Careful Fear and Dead Devotion
by sea of destruction
Summary: Ruby Zeller was not the prettiest girl in Gryffindor, nor was she the quietest or the most polite. For whatever reason, that endeared her to Sirius Black even more. After being friends for their entire life at Hogwarts, Ruby might finally have her chance at the most coveted boy in her year. AU, seventh year , Sirius/OC, Lily/James and other OC goodness.
1. Chapter One

**First story time posting a story in a looong time. Hope it's not too terribly short, I always have trouble with length. Anyways, this is the beginning of a major AU Sirius/OC story. There will be canon elements, but a lot of things are gonna be changed up. The first six chapters will be a snap shot of our character's first year six years at Hogwarts. After that, the story will take place from seventh year and go past graduation. As always, I don't own Harry Potter, but I do own all the OCs you encounter.**

* * *

"Ruby Winifred, _watch where you are going!_" A harsh voice cut through the crowd, causing heads to turn towards Orla Zeller. Although short and otherwise very kind looking, the fierce glare on her face, made the children promptly turn back to their own parents. It was unfortunate for Mrs. Zeller though that her own children continued to ignore her, completely unconcerned about their mother's wrath. The only one out of the five that was behaving was Naomi, the youngest, blondest and always best mannered. Luckily for Orla, Zane had come down with a nasty cold and had stayed home with a sitter, rather than see his siblings off. He was a sweet boy, but he loved to rough house with his older siblings. A little over a year separated Zane from the twins.

Meanwhile Jude, the oldest at 15, who had already kissed his mothers cheek, and hugged his father good bye, was no doubt causing a ruckus on the train itself. Twins, Amery and Ruby however, were giddy about their first year at Hogwarts and were running circles on the platform. While Amery wasn't much bigger than his sister (although he maintained that he was 2 inches taller, thank you very much. Being the older brother by a whole 3 minutes meant a lot to him), he was much darker featured than his twin. Dark hair that fell into his eyes because he escaped his mother's wand when she tried to give him a pre-Hogwarts hair cut (with the help of Ruby of course).

Unlike his sisters who both favored their light colored mother, Amery Felix Zeller looked like his father's miniature. With his long dark hair, to dark brown eyes, and olive-tinted skin tone, he made quite the picture next to his sisters. While Naomi with her fair hair looked considerably more like Mrs. Zeller, Ruby took on a little more mousy appearance. Her hair was not quite as brilliant as her younger sisters, definitely more of a dish water blonde than anything.

The only thing that gave her complexion any kind of color was the dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, which sometimes spread to her shoulders in the summer. While Amery's eyes were a dark chocolate brown, Ruby's hovered between brown and green. Although he loved his sister very much, Amery loved to pick fun at the gap between Ruby's two front teeth which usually resulted in a wrestling match between the two.

Judging by the harsh look on her mum's face, Ruby thought it was high time that her and Amery saved their trouble making for Hogwarts when they weren't being supervised by the woman who they were convinced had eyes on the back of her head. "Come on, mum's head is about to explode." She tugged on the sleeve of her brother's shirt, who promptly stopped trying to use her as a step stool. Amery scoffed but solemnly made his way back to his mother and father, Ruby's little hand tucked between his skinny arm.

Luckily for the twins, their father who was a Muggle was far too interested in the magic around him to really tear into his children for misbehaving. "You two better behave yourselves. Don't think that just because I'm not around doesn't mean you can run wild at school." Mrs. Zeller said with a sharp tone, eying the twins. With her luck, her kids would be the first to receive a detention on their very first day. She didn't even want to think about the kind of mischief those two would get into. Betraying the hard tone and glint in her eye, Mrs. Zeller bent over and fussed over both children's hair and the state of dirt of their faces before giving up on the loss cause. "Promise me that you won't get into trouble, please?" There was a certain hint of pleading in her voice that caused Ruby and Amery to look at each other with near identical grins.

"Of course mum!" They answered in unison, before Amery delivered a sharp elbow to his sister's ribs.

"I'll make sure Roo is on her best behavior. No worries, ma." Amery said with an easy smile, hugging both his parents again.

"Yeah, and I'll make sure no one drowns Amery in the Lake for being a giant git." Ruby retorted, sending a glare her brother's way. She held on a little tighter to her father, knowing how lonely and boring it would be at home for him with just little Naomi and boring Zane to keep an eye on. Although he shouldn't be, Colin Zeller was always fascinated with his children's magic, even though it was technically underage. He got a real kick out of the time that in a fit of rage, Ruby had caused Jude's head to swell three times its size before his mother could get a hold of him. Kissing her mother's cheek one last time, and ruffling Naomi's blonde hair, Ruby took her brother's arm again (all earlier pointy elbows forgotten) and dragged him to train. Luckily their dad had already helped moved their trunks aboard so there was no awkward, heavy lifting. They drifted past compartments with older kids in them, although they did stop briefly at Jude's to press their faces against the glass before scurrying away. It wasn't until they got nearly towards the end of the train that they found a compartment empty enough to house them.

A skinny red headed girl with the greenest eyes Ruby had ever seen, burst out from the glass door, pulling an even skinnier, hooked nosed boy with her, huffing about idiot boys, caused the twins to peek their own noses in the compartment which she left. Ruby wanted to call out to the girl and warn her that there weren't any other open places but she was gone as fast as she appeared. Amery was already inching his way through the door anyways, Ruby's hand trapped under his armpit.

"Can we sit here?" It was unusual politeness from her brother but Ruby assumed he wanted to make new friends. Especially given their company, something about them (Ruby thought it was the boy with glasses) made it feel like they wanted to be friends with them.

"Even though you chased off your previous guests," Ruby muttered under her breath, and without waiting for a reply, threw herself unceremoniously into the nearest empty seat.

"_Roo!_" Amery hissed at her, aiming a kick to her shin before following suit. "I'm Amery Zeller and this is my little sister Ruby."

"I'm not your little sister, you big headed prat. He's only three minutes older than me." Her tone was matter of fact as she stared down every boy around her. She didn't want anyone referring her to as someone's little sister. She was her own person, damnit!

The boy with untidy hair and glasses stifled a laugh behind his hand before offering it to her. Ruby shot her brother a self satisfied smirk before reaching out and shaking his hand firmly. "Ruby Zeller, nice to meet you. You can call me Roo."

"James Potter." Ruby took his hand, watching as he extended to her brother after. James opened his mouth again; no doubt to introduce his companion but the other boy beat him to the chase.

"Sirius Black," He said with a smirk, reaching across James to take Ruby's hand. She hoped a blush didn't creep up into her cheeks. He was rather cute, with his sleek black hair that he so casually shook out of his grey eyes. Ruby couldn't help but think he'd make a pretty girl. She bit down on her tongue to keep her from laughing out loud, the thought of Sirius with blush and lipstick dancing in her mind. In a swift movement, Sirius brought Ruby's hands to his lips. It was rather sophisticated for an eleven year old boy, Ruby thought before balling up her fist and punching him in the forehead.

"Hands off, Black!" Roo hissed, hurriedly rubbing her knuckles against the fabric of her jeans. Just because he had the whole dream boat thing down pact, Ruby was not interested in boys, thank you very much. To her surprise, Sirius just laughed and turned Amery's way and shook his hand. He offered no explanation, but rubbed his head where Ruby's little fist had made contact.

"You hit pretty hard for a girl." He offered up after a minute, after James loud laughter died down.

"You have a pretty soft head for a boy." Ruby scoffed. "Girls can hit just as good as boys. I have three brothers, and I can pummel Zane." She said in a way that left no room for any other comments. Although he didn't say anything, Amery rolled his eyes heavily at the other boys and aimed an elbow into Ruby's side. With a fierce glare at her brother, Ruby pulled her arm back and socked Amery as hard as she could in the arm.

"Anyways, what did Messrs. Potter and Black do that caused that girl and her friend to sprint out of here?" She continued with a pointed looked in her twin's direction. She didn't like that gleam in his eye, it meant he'd try to get her back later.

If they were fazed by their behavior, James and Sirius didn't show it. Instead they both laughed loudly. James had an obnoxious, but infectious laugh that caused Roo's face to break out in a grin. Sirius had a deep bark like laughter which for some reason, Ruby thought suited him.

"Messr. Black? Hmm, I think I like that. My dear ol' mum would be pleased if I started making people address me like that. What say you Messr. Potter?"

"I think it fits me quite nicely. Not nearly as pompous as Lord Potter, although that is fitting as well." James answered. "But let's say just her slimy companion thought it'd be best to be in Slytherin." There was an air of great distaste in James' voice.

Growing up in a mostly Muggle home, in a Muggle community, the Zeller twins didn't know quite enough about the Hogwart's houses to form a proper opinion. Their older brother Jude was in Hufflepuff, and Ruby remembered how proud her mum (and dad once it got explained to him) were of him. So she knew that's were all the loyal, hard working types ended up. Despite loving to goof off, Ruby thought that sounded like the best place for her brother. The only real thing that Roo and Amery knew about Slytherin was that Jude got in a fight with a 'nasty boy' from that house last year, at least according to their mum.

If nothing else, Ruby was fiercely loyal and there so hated Slytherins on principle. Given that Orla was a Ravenclaw alumni, Ruby deducted that's where all the smart people ended up. Despite being overbearing and having eyes on the back of her head, Roo knew her mother was a brilliant witch. She couldn't really see herself in her mum's old house though. She figured that she might end up in Hufflepuff with Jude, which was fine by her. She just hoped that Amery would be with her.

Secretly though, Ruby hoped for Gryffindor. She merely shrugged her shoulders when her parents, and siblings asked what house she wanted and tried to play it cool. She didn't know much about Gryffindors, just that they were brave (and Ruby fancied herself brave) and red was her favorite color. Silver was so not.

Before she could comment on the qualities of each house (like Amery was prattling on about Hufflepuff), the glass door to their compartment slid open again. In the door way stood a tall, sort of peaky looking boy.

"Mind if I kip in here for a bit? Someone dropped a dungbomb in my compartment." He seemed a bit out breath as he talked, like he had run very hard and fast away from the offensive smells.

"Sure thing mate, have a seat! The more the merrier!" James said with a bright grin, gesturing to the open spot next to Amery. "I'm James Potter, Sirius Black and twins Amery, and Rub-"James pointed to each person as he introduced them, faltering a bit at the look on Ruby's face. "Or rather, Roo Zeller."

"Remus Lupin thanks again." He answered, brushing his hair off of his forehead with a sheepish grin

"Right, now that all the niceties are aside. Who's up for some exploding snap?"

* * *

Jude had told them all about Hogwarts, but the mental image he painted was nothing like Ruby was actually seeing. She couldn't even dream of a place as wonderful as Hogwarts. It had been amazing on the outside, even if she was crammed next to Amery, the red headed girl from earlier and her admittedly greasy looking friend. She couldn't help but wonder what the rest of the castle if this was just the Great Hall.

Ruby was too distracted looking for Jude's head of blonde hair to catch the song the Hat was singing. Unlike the other eleven year olds around her, she wasn't surprised when the Hat started to sing. Jude had a big mouth and blabbed on for weeks about sorting on his first summer home. She finally caught her brother's eye who offered her a short wave before pointing back up to the front of the hall.

Knowing that she and Amery would be the lasts to be sorted, Ruby let her mind wander a bit. It wasn't until she realized it was Sirius' face disappearing under the hat that her attention snapped back. For the most part, it didn't seem like it took too long to sort a person. Some people the Hat barely dropped down on their heads before it shouted out their house. For Sirius though, it seemed like it was taking ages. She could imagine it felt even longer for Sirius. Finally, the brim torn open and yelled out Gryffindor.

Immediately there was whispering as Sirius triumphantly made his way to the Gryffindor table. The Slytherins booed and hissed pretty loudly but it made no difference in all the cheers and yelps from the Gryffindors. Ruby shot Sirius a thumbs up once she caught his eye, unable to stop grinning for her new friend. It seemed like Gryffindor was where he wanted to go.

Again, Ruby tuned out the sorting until another familiar face climbed up the stool. It was the red headed girl from the boat, Lily Evans. It didn't take long for the Hat to give Gryffindor another new student. She swore she saw Lily turn back to that hooked nose boy with a sad smile before taking her seat, carefully ignoring Sirius.

Ruby watched Remus get sorted into Gryffindor as well, taking the empty seat that Lily left open. More than ever, Ruby hoped for Gryffindor. After Remus, two twin girls were sorted, both into different houses, Mary Macdonald into Gryffindor and her sister into Ravenclaw. Her heart clenched at the sight, knowing how hard it would be for her to be away from Amery. Annoying prat he may be, but Ruby loved him like he was another part of her soul.

Two more students were sent to Hufflepuff, another to Slytherin before a watery eyed boy stepped up the stool. Although she didn't know him, she thought he was a shoe in for Hufflepuff but she was surprised to see him go to Gryffindor as well. Remus kindly made a spot for him. James was up next and without a concern; Ruby knew where he would go. Sirius roared particularly loud, throwing an arm around his friend's shoulders before he sat down.

Lily's slimy friend eventually made his way to the front, the Hat barely taking a second to declare him a Slytherin. He looked very proud of himself, but knew by the cautious look back to the Gryffindors that he wished he had gone with his friend. Finally after what felt like days, Amery Zeller moved to the stool. It took a few moments, but like their train companions, he too, went to Gryffindor.

Sweating more than she originally thought she could, Ruby took her brother's place, and stuffed the Hat on top of her head.

_"Ah, more twins, always interesting."_ A lofty sort of voice filled her eyes. Ruby couldn't help but roll her eyes. _"Forgive me, I don't mean to make you out to be a novelty. Let's have a look see then."_ Merlin, it really felt like she would be up here forever. _"Impatient little thing, aren't you? Hufflepuff would suit you well, you'd be hard pressed to find another as loyal as yourself."_

"No, no, no." Ruby begged. She wouldn't have minded Hufflepuff other wise, but Amery was in Gryffindor, and so were all her friends. She wanted to be with them.

_"Hmm, Gryffindor? I think that would work. Yes, I see now. Better be, GRYFFINDOR!"_

If it wouldn't look utterly ridiculous, Ruby would have run to the Gryffindor table. Instead, she forced herself to walk, but unable to keep a grin from splitting her face in two. Her cheeks would hurt later from all the smiling, but she couldn't help it.

"Roo!" Amery shouted and in a rare display of twin-ly affection, her brother threw his arms around her and hugged her tight. She knew that was his way of telling her that he was scared they'd be separated too. After releasing her brother (although she did take a few more seconds of hugging knowing they'd be back to normal once he let go), Ruby used her hip to push James further down.

"Budge over Potter, I'm starving!"

* * *

After stuffing her face with every food she could reach (especially the mashed potatoes), Ruby was feeling quite full and tired. The nerves, combined with the thought of being away from Amery had taken their toll on her and she was very ready to sleep. Vaguely she heard Dumbledore say something about the Forbidden Forest being off limits, and some or other about some caretaker. She let her head droop and fall onto Amery's shoulder, effectively tuning out the rest of the speech as her eyes starting to close.

"C'mon Roo, we're supposed to go up to the common room." Amery shook his sister, who startled quite easily.

"Yeah, move it Roo or we'll be the last ones up there." James nudged her in the shoulder before scurrying off to catch up with Sirius who was anxiously following the prefect out of the hall.

"Well, we certainly can't be last can we?" Ruby turned to Amery with a grin, all hints of sleepiness gone. Without a second glance at each other, the twins took off, darting between people, and shoving past James and the watery eyed boy Ruby had come to know as Peter.

"Move it James or you'll be the last one up!" Ruby taunted over her shoulder. Laughing at the look on James' face, Ruby hardly noticed that she was about to collide with a very tall, and lanky prefect.

"Oi! Watch it!" The prefect turned around, and fixed Ruby with a look of confusion. "You don't even have the password yet!" He extended a freckled hand to her. "It's your first night, you might want to save bothering prefects for the first real day, eh?" Gideon Prewett fixed her with a good natured smile and helped Ruby up.

"Thanks." She mumbled sheepishly, brushing the dirt off her back side before falling back a little. How embarrassing.

"Good one Roo. You got in trouble before we even hit the common room!" Sirius said with a grin, slinging his arms across her shoulders.

"I hardly call _that _getting in trouble," Ruby answered with as much dignity as she could muster. She ignored Sirius' bark laugh and shook her arm off of her shoulder. "Bugger off Sirius or you'll be the first person I try a hex on!" Although she fixed him with a glare, Sirius could tell it was still in good fun. Plus, there's no way she could out hex him, anyways.

"And you'd deserve it too!" A soft voice cut through their conversation, as all their heads turned back to Lily Evans. She had her arms folded over her chest, eying him and James with a look of contempt.

"Because we asked you, right?" Sirius puffed up a little, a cruel sort of smirk on his face.

"Shove off Sirius; she's probably mad you picked on her friend." Ruby rolled her eyes and shoved Sirius and company ahead of her. "Hurry along boys, there's only so much shower time and you all desperately need it." She waved them along, including Amery. "You should just ignore him; he and James think they are a riot." Ruby shrugged, falling back to walk besides Lily. Although she got along with Sirius, and James, she could see how other's might not.

"I'm Ruby, but you can call me Roo, since we'll be dorm mates and all."

"Lily Evans," The red headed girl replied with a bit of a sniff. "They made fun of my friend Severus, it was rather rude." Lily made no effort to mask the glare she aimed at the back of James' head. "I'm sorry, I'm being a bit of a brat aren't I? They are your friends, I shouldn't be so harsh. It's nice to meet you Roo."

"No worries. They do act like gits sometimes, but they are generally nice." Ruby said with a shrug before turning the corner.

"Who are the other boys with them?" Lily asked, as if sizing up all five boys.

"Well, the taller one is Remus. He's quiet, and very polite. The short one up there is Peter, I just met him at dinner. He seems alright. And the other one is my brother Amery. He's a total prat. Feel free to jinx him from here down to the Great Hall. He'd likely deserve it." Ruby answered, grinning.

"Oh, you're twins then?" Apparently, Lily did not seem adverse to the idea of jinxing one's siblings.

"Yep. He likes to tell everyone he's my older brother, but it's only by three minutes so it hardly counts." She rolled her eyes. "My ACTUAL big brother is in Hufflepuff, he's a fifth year."

"So you've always known that you were a witch then?"

"Well, yeah. My mum is a witch, the first in our family. My mam almost died when Dumbledore showed up on their doorstep. She was in Ravenclaw. But dad, he's a muggle. Didn't know a thing about magic until he met my mum. She helped sew his sister's wedding dress and then they got married. Mum told him about her being a witch and all before that though. He was pretty surprised, but I suspect most muggles are. He loves all the magic though, always wants my mum to do spells and stuff for him. What about you?"

"No one in my family is a witch," Lily said with a hint of sadness. "Severus told me, he saw me do magic, so I've known for a while." She shrugged.

"Well, no one in my family was magical until my mum, nothing to be ashamed of." Ruby said, looping her arm through Lily's. "We live all around muggles, so we can't even really do magic anyways. It's a real drag."

The red headed girl laughed, it was a delicate sound, much softer and pleasant than the throaty chuckles of the boys she had spent the last few hours with. Arm in arm, Lily and Ruby pushed through the portrait door into the common room.

"Wow, it's brilliant!" Ruby exclaimed loudly, eying a particularly comfy looking chair near the fire. She dropped her friend's arm, and turned around to look at the common room. She saw her brother wave her over excitedly from the boy's dorms doorway. "Be right back, gotta say good night to Amery." Ruby excused herself from Lily quickly and bounded over to her brother.

"It looks even better than Hufflepuff's common room sounds!"

"Tell me about it, I can't wait to snag one of those chairs." Ruby agreed. "And you ought to be nice to Lily, Sirius. She's quite nice." She added, raising an eyebrow in his direction. Sirius just rolled his eyes, and grabbed James and Remus by the arm and dragged up them the stairs, Peter following close behind. "Good night!" She called up after them, satisfied by the various grunts they answered her with.

"Do try and make some girlfriends Roo," Amery said in a serious tone before smirking at his sister.

"Right, do try and not to wet the bed in front of our new mates." Ruby scoffed before pulling him into a hug and running off to the girl's dorm. Lily had already made her way up, and was pulling back the covers to her bed when Roo bounded her way in. She spotted Mary, the girl who got separated from her twin sister, lying in bed. Another girl with long dark blonde, who Ruby didn't remember seeing get sorted, sat in the bed across of Lily, with a very dreamy expression on her face. Ruby attempted to catch her eye, but the girl just continued to stare up at the ceiling.

Casting a look at Lily, and with a grin on her face, Ruby Zeller crawled into her own bed. It had been a very long day, and all the earlier adrenaline from racing up the stairs escaped her. She was with her brother, and was already making new friends. It would be a good year indeed.

* * *

**I really hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter and it wasn't too short/long, whatever. This is completely un-beta'd and I'm not the best with grammar so I apologize for any mistakes. If anyone is interested in beta-ing for me, please PM me! I don't have an eye for that stuff. Please review and tell me what you think! **


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer, I do not own Harry Potter, only Ruby and other OCs belong to me! Note, this chapter takes place during their second year!**

* * *

Ruby Zeller was having a very pleasant dream, one those really cliché ones where she could feel every breath of air whip through her hair. One where she was soaring above the Quidditch stands, a beaters bat clutched tightly in her first, waving at the scream crowds. Perhaps it was the anxiety of the up and coming Quidditch try outs that had Ruby all in a tither about the game. Either way, her winning streak was cut very short by a shrill voice in her ear.

"Ruby, get up right this insistence! If we are late for breakfast again, I am going to hang you by your toes and beat you to death!" Lily Evans, Ruby's very best mate, cried whacking her sleeping friend over the head with a pillow.

"Bugger off Lils! Jesus. Have you been taking notes from Pringle lately?" Ruby grumbled, throwing the pillow Lily abandoned right back at her. "I was having a really good dream, you know!" She swung her legs over the side of the bed, brushing her mousy blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Oh yeah, you were probably dreaming about Black, again." Lily retorted with a mutinous laugh. Grabbing her own pillow, Ruby launched it across the room at her friend.

"You cow! I told you under strictest confidence that you weren't allowed to mention that _nightmare_ again!" Ruby laughed loudly as the pillow hit its mark on Lily's face and retreated into the bathroom before Lily could retaliate.

Ruby could feel the winter chill starting to set in, despite the fact that it was only two weeks into the new term. The tiles in the bathroom were cold and she had to dance around on the ends of her toes while she brushed her teeth and combed her hair.

"I'm ready, are you happy now?" Ruby demanded, after she pulled her arm through her sleeve.

"Yes, now let's move! Potter probably already ate all the toast by now!"

"Yeah right, _he's _probably still sleeping." Roo rolled her eyes and marched down the stairs, Lily following close behind.

After a year at Hogwarts, the two Gryffindor girls had a good handle on how to get down to the Great Hall pretty quickly. Pushing through the doors and making their way to the Gryffindor table, Lily made sure to shoot Ruby with a look of contempt at the sight James Potter with two pieces of toast shoved in his mouth.

"Keep your bloomers on Lily, there's still more." Ruby rolled her eyes, dropping down in the empty spot beside her twin brother, Amery. Before Lily could make the move to sit next to her, Sirius had slipped in and stole her seat.

"Sorry Evans," Sirius offered with a smirk, before reaching for the plate of sausage in front of him.

"You're a real git, you know that right Black?" Lily retorted giving him a nasty look before taking a seat next to Mary a little further down.

"You are such a prat Sirius," Ruby rolled her eyes, snatching the sausages from him before piling up her plat. "Lily is my friend and I'd appreciate if you'd stop being a huge prat to her."

"Yeah mate, leave 'er alone." James contributed, with bits of toast flying out of his mouth as he spoke. Sirius said nothing but raised a dark eyebrow very high in his friend's direction. "What? I think she's fit."

"You're a pig James." Shaking her head, Ruby started in on her breakfast.

"So Quidditch try outs tonight, huh James? Think you'll make the team?" It was hard to decipher what Peter was saying, his mouth full of eggs, but James shot him a cocky grin once he figured it out.

"Course! They'd be stupid not to bring me in, probably the best chance at a great chaser they have!"

Feeling suddenly very nauseous, Ruby pushed her plate away from her, frowning. "Do you think they'll really want second years on their team? I reckon we don't have a chance until next year, at least."

"If you're good enough, they won't care how old you are!" James exclaimed with so much confidence, it made her head hurt. "And whaddya mean, we? You didn't say you were trying out?"

Ruby hoped she didn't look at green as she felt. "No, 'course no." She mumbled, quickly reaching out for her glass of marmalade.

"What are you talking about Roo? You talked about Quidditch all summer, you said you wanted to go for the open beater position!" Amery exclaimed, eying his sister as if she were crazy. She stomped very hard on his foot underneath the table, shaking her head slightly, hoping the goblet obscured how red her face was getting. "Ouch! Damnit Roo that hurt!"

James instantly perked up, and leaned across the table, pulling the glass away from Ruby's face. "You really wanna try out for beater? I dunno if they'd take a girl, usually they want the big burly meathead kind of guys for that. Maybe you'd do better if you went out for chaser or maybe seeker when it opens up?"

"Are you kidding me!?" Ruby sputtered, smacking James' hand away from her. "I can play any position I want too, that includes beater! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm limited! Have you forgotten about the Holy Head Harpies? All witches, _including _their beaters!" She spat before pushing herself away from the table. "I'll show you James Potter, I'll hit a bludger so hard at your face, and you'll forget who you are!"

"Well, I reckon you gone and pissed her off mate," Remus piped up after a moment of silence, watching Ruby stomp away. "Good job."

* * *

Ruby spent the rest of the day ignoring James, despite his over the top apologies. At one point on her way down to lunch, she heard him shouting down from three floors up about how sorry he was. Lily spent the whole day praising her for not talking to that 'arrogant bully' and it took every ounce of will for Ruby not to snap at either of them.

Tell James to shove off and keep all his sexist Quidditch ideas to himself. Then tell Lily off for dogging on James all the time, because even though he might be a colossal idiot, he was still a good friend of hers. Eventually, she ditched both and spent the rest of her classes sandwiched between Peter and Remus. Ruby couldn't even sit beside her own brother because he plopped next to Sirius who always sat next to James, and two people away was still close enough for him to try and apologize some more.

Luckily, Remus and Peter were plenty of good company. Peter almost always had something nice to say, and Remus was smart and helped Ruby pick up the slack in her less than stellar classes. He took notes while she dozed off in History of Magic, and tried to help her keep up in Herbology.

At dinner, Ruby sat with Lily, Mary Macdonald and Willow Tilt. Willow was a little off the wall sometimes, but the girls liked her all the same. She moved the food around her plate, while the three other girls chattered away. Finally, she pushed up from the table and started to make her way to the Quidditch pitch, her dorm mates shouted various encouragements her way. Just as she was about to push through the front doors to head to the pitch, Amery and Sirius both caught up with her.

"You'll do great Roo!" Amery clapped her shoulder as he fell in step with her.

"Yeah, you'll smash everyone else to pieces. Except me, of course." Sirius added, dropped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to ruffle her hair. Ruby turned her head up at him, giving him a sharp glare.

"What do you mean, 'except you'?"

"Well, I figured you'd need a decent partner, and who else better than me?"

"Oh my god, this is going to be so much worse than I thought." Ruby groaned covering her eyes with her hands.

* * *

_'Why does everything have to go in alphabetical order?' _Ruby thought, a frown on her face. She just wanted to get it over with, not watch everyone else go through their trials and know that she wouldn't make it.

"Shut up already, it'll be fine. Radbourne is fair, he won't laugh us off too early."

"Piss of Sirius." Ruby snapped, but felt bad immediately after. She knew he was only trying to make her feel better. Especially given that last year's team was mostly still at Hogwarts, albeit in their last year, but would earn their spots back. She sighed and gave Sirius' hand a squeeze, her way of apologizing.

"Hey Ruby!" James' voice cut through her thoughts and before she could book it to avoid his increasingly more ridiculous ways to apologize, Sirius held her hand tightly so she couldn't run.

"Hi James, look you don't need to say sorry anymore. It's fine, I know you didn't mean to be a bigoted prat." Ruby said quickly before he could vomit up another apology.

"Thanks Roo, I didn't mean it, really." James' looked relieved before he clapped her on the shoulder and turned his eyes back to the ongoing try outs. "Reckon they'll reinstate the team from last year, which really only leaves an open seeker spot." He frowned, realizing for the first time that he probably wouldn't make it on the team this year. It was bad enough that James couldn't even try out last year but now he wouldn't even get a proper chance to play this year.

Ruby and James stood together, watching as each person went through their trials. Sirius did pretty well, but he was definitely out flied by the year's previous beaters. Eventually, James who looked a little green in the face, mounted his broom. Despite being one the few second years that showed up, he flew better than most of the older students.

"Out of all of us, James has the best chance." Ruby commented to Sirius, who was supporting a brand new black eye.

"Oh yeah, he's mad about Quidditch. I got to go to his house over the summer for a bit, and he wanted to play the entire time. His dad taught him, I think."

Too soon it seemed, Radbourne called out Ruby's name. With a grimace in her friend's direction, she shook hands with the captain and grabbed a bat. Like James, he seemed a little skeptical about her aspirations to play beater, but she kicked off into the air anyways. As much as she loved the muggle town she lived in, Ruby really wished she could live somewhere that she could fly all the time. She twirled the beater's bat in her hand, waiting anxious for the bludgers to be released from the box.

With a tight grip on her broom handle, Ruby kept her eyes trained on the ground. She knew that they'd release the bludger soon, let her smack it around a few times before sending someone up in the air with her. That's the part that made her most nervous, keeping the bludger away from someone else. Ruby knew she wouldn't have any trouble keeping it away from her, but doubts crept in when it came to her ability to play as well with others.

Finally, Radbourne lifted the crate and the bludger came zooming at her. She pulled her arm back and whacked it with a solid crack and sent it clear across the pitch. Ruby faltered on her room, nearly losing her balance, surprising herself that she hit it with such force. Re-positioning herself, Roo pushed forward and hit the bludger head on again, rather than sit and wait for it to come back at her. She lost her positioning again and the next shot after but after a few trial runs, she didn't slip back too much. Ruby never had a chance to play with an active bludger so it was still a little new for her.

Sooner than she would have liked, Radbourne himself kicked off and soared high above Ruby. The bludger had found it's next mark and took a sharp turn to fly straight at him. Luckily Ruby was already flying towards him, she did not want to be remembered as the girl who let their captain fall to his death. She sent the bludger flying again, losing the grip on her broom a little before determinedly flying after Radbourne. He let her have a few more shots before touching down on the ground and tackling the bludger as it came hurtling after him.

"Not bad Zeller." He clapped her on the shoulder before sending her to stand with the other hopefuls.

"That was awesome Roo! You hit that thing clear across the pitch!" James said with enthusiasm which Ruby suspected was to make up for breakfast. She grinned at him, as he draped his arm across her shoulder, talking about how they and Sirius were basically shoe-ins.

However, after several minutes of debating with his co-captain, Ruby's heart fell into her stomach as Radbourne listed off last year's previous team members with the exception of a new chaser…James Potter.

She shared a defeated sigh with Sirius but hugged James none the less. "You really were great up there, mate!" Ruby said, happy for her friend but said for herself. She was just about to make her way off the pitch with Sirius when she heard Daniel call out their names.

"I just wanted to say that I think you both did really well today," Once he caught up with them, Daniel's face was a serious one. "Zeller, you need to work on handling your broom and a bludger but other than that, you really surprised me. If you both keep up practicing, there's no reason you can't be on the team next year. It was a matter of last year's beaters out flying you both. I hope I see you both at next years try outs." He said with a hard glint in his eye.

Ruby and Sirius shared a smirk before turning back to Radbourne and saluting him. "Yes sir!" They called in unison before breaking out into laughter.

* * *

James joined them in the common room, an hour later, greeted by loud whoops and claps on the back. Amery offered in protest of Ruby not making the team, to ignore James completely but his sister had rolled her eyes at him. No use in being mad at James for being good enough. Although Ruby wasn't looking in her direction, she knew that Lily was rolling her eyes heavily, most likely whispering to Mary about James' increasingly growing ego. After picking on James for prancing around the common room, Ruby fell onto the couch with a thump next to Peter.

"I knew I should have gone to watch try outs! James sounded amazing!" Peter huffed, clearly awed at James' boastful retell of how try outs went.

"Radbourne keeps the pitch closed so no one can, would have been useless to try. He kept those burly reserve beaters on look out the whole time," She shrugged. "Plus James is definitely embellishing a bit. He did fly really well, but he did not hang off his broom one handed to avoid a bludger." Ruby rolled her eyes, listening to James' excited babble. Peter glanced at her, his eyebrows high on his forehead, clearly untrusting of her account of try outs.

"Dunno Roo, it sounds pretty legit. I'm gonna go ask him!" Pete jumped up from the couch and hightailed it over to James who was surrounded by giggling eleven year olds.

"Prat."

"You're telling me, you don't have to share a room with him." Remus' quiet voice filled her ears as he took the seat Peter vacated.

"True, but I do sleep next to Lily who exclusively complains about James. I'm not sure if that's better or worse." Ruby grinned, turning her head to Remus. Her smile faltered a little bit, taking in his appearance. Remus was always sort of peaky looking, but he looked especially worn and pale today. "You feeling alright Remus?"

"Oh, I'm fine, just tired. My mother isn't feeling well, so I'm going to visit her in a few days." His voice was solemn, causing Ruby to frown even further. His mother had been sick since he started at school, and he often left to visit her. She thought it was really kind of Dumbledore to let Remus be with his sick mum when time allowed for it.

"Well, I hope she feels better. Maybe you should give her some of your chocolate stash, makes everyone else perk up pretty quick." Ruby said with a smile, her little hand wrapped around Remus' and gave it a squeeze.

"Thanks Roo, I appreciate it." His voice was sort of strangled sounding, but Ruby just leaned closer to him, her head dropping down to his shoulder with a soft sigh.

"No problem Remus."

* * *

**Not as long as the last chapter, but I hope you enjoy it all the same! Again, this is unbeta'd so apologize for any mistakes. I have chapter 3 finished, and I might be inclined to post early if I get some reviews! Either way, expect chapter three (aka how Ruby got her red hair) sometime next week. Thank you so much!**


	3. Chapter Three

**As always, I own nothing but the OCs you see! This chapter takes place during 3rd year!**

* * *

It was supposed to be an innocent prank, just something stupid they'd all get a kick out of and be done with it. In fact, Sirius thought with a vindictive grimace, it was Amery's idea to do it. Ruby blamed him, but she really should be turning those icy daggers she called eyes towards her idiot brother. It was his retaliation but Sirius just executed it. The previous morning, Roo had hit her brother with an oppungo jinx which had caused his cutlery to jump up and start beating him around the head, although she swore up and down on her broomstick that it was an accident. She said she had been aiming for the Slytherin table behind them, but they weren't completely convinced. Especially given the squeal of glee she let out as the spoons turned their attention to the other Gryffindor boys, particularly when a spoon jabbed Peter in the ear rather hard.

There hadn't been a lot of planning in their counter attack, just an offhand comment made by Amery in a fit of anger. Something about turning her head green, maybe into a pumpkin. Sirius' goal had been to do it sneakily, enlarge her head like they had done to Bertram that one time, and transfigure it orange. Sirius knew there was a pumpkin head jinx, but that wasn't quite as funny, he didn't think. Plus, it was such an easy fix. She could easily remove the pumpkin herself, he wanted something a touch more complicated.

James had advised him to do it during breakfast, right before they left for classes so Lily didn't have time to jump to her rescue before people saw. Lily was almost as good as him and James and they knew she would interfere like she always did, if she could. Sirius had his wand at the ready, whispering incantations under his breath in preparation and as ready to execute when Peter started yelling in his ear. Sirius wasn't sure what he was yelling, just that he could feel his friend's spit on his face and smell the sausages on his breath. It completely broke his concentration, and instead of Roo's head resembling a pumpkin like he had planned, her hair turned a shocking red, and her head started to inflate.

At least he had gotten the enlarged head bit right.

Lily screamed and turned her wand on her friend in an instant, trying to stop the engorgement. Except, no matter what Lily was shouting, no matter how many wrist flicks, it wouldn't stop growing. Sirius jumped up from the table, his intention to book it to class before anyone could turn this back on him. James and Amery followed in suit, both knowing what Sirius had planned to do. Before they could make a proper run for it though, Mary Macdonald had them pinned with a steely glare and a wand in their face.

"Move, and I'll turn your knees backward." She snapped, her eyes cutting into Sirius. As if he didn't feel guilty enough, jeeze. "Go over there and stop her head from getting any bigger Sirius Black!"

"Erm, well the problem with that Macdonald is that I'm not really sure why it won't stop?" He tried to use the most innocent sounding voice possible. "Besides, it's really Pete's fault. He messed me up!"

"I don't care who's fault it is!" Mary shrieked. At this point, several teachers had converged around Ruby, trying to calm the hysterical screaming of Lily and Roo's still growing head.

"Merlin, move aside! Move!" They heard McGonagall's voice cut through the panic. One nonverbal spell, and turn of the wand later, Ruby's head was normal sized although she still sported bright red hair. "Who is responsible for this?" Her voice was dangerously low, as if daring the trouble makers to even think about lying to her.

Sirius shot Mary a pleading look, puppy eyes in full affect to let them go. He'd apologize to Roo later, shower her in chocolate and even try to set her hair right if he could, if he could just avoid McGonagall. She had already put him, Peter and James into detentions for the week. He was gonna miss another Quidditch practice if she caught him, and then he'd have Radbourne to worry about.

For a second, it looked like Mary was going to consider letting them get past her but with a triumphant snort in their direction, she raised her hand in the air to get their professor's attention.

"Ma'am, I think it was Black who did it, but Potter and Zeller were definitely in on it." Once McGonagall made her way over to the guilty party, Mary shot them a harsh glare before turning her back on them and going over to hug Ruby tightly. Although she wasn't hysterical like Lily had been, Ruby Zeller had a murderous look on her very red face. She refused to make eye contact with any of the boys, especially Amery as her face slowly turned back to her normal shade. She shook off the teachers who offered to try to charm her hair back to its original color but Ruby waved them off.

"I just want to get to class, thank you." Sirius heard her mumble, before she grabbed her bag and stalked off, not before hitting Sirius pretty hard with the corner of it.

"You three, in my office, _now._"

* * *

It had been three days, and Ruby still refused to talk to James, Sirius or even Amery. It was unusual to see her not speak to Sirius and James, as she frequently said they were her best mates, but it was even stranger to see her not speak to Amery. In two years that they knew the Zeller twins, no one had ever known them to be angry with each other, let alone not speaking. They were nearly always together or passing notes to each other in class.

Amery had received a particularly awful howler the next morning, his mother screaming at him for attacking his little sister. Ruby stared at Amery with a self satisfied smirk, before turning back to Lily and talking animatedly about their lessons. If that wasn't bad enough, Jude who was now a seventh year had stalked over to the Gryffindor table to chew into Amery some more. Ruby looked even more pleased after that.

James and Sirius both tried to talk to her during Quidditch practice, but after too many attempts, Ruby took a hard swing at James' head that he just barely missed. Sirius was sure she was purposefully aiming bludgers at him too. It was only the three of them that Ruby was ignoring. She still spoke to Remus and Peter, most of the time pretending the other boys didn't even exist.

Her hair was still a fire engine red, which Sirius would never tell her in the mood she was in, fit her quite nicely. Probably why she declined everyone's offer to change it. Mary, who was quite good at hair charms, had toned it down a touch on McGonagall's orders but rebelliously added bits of golden yellow highlights. It was like Ruby Zeller was a walking, talking mascot for Gryffindor.

A few Slytherins had poked fun at her, but when she threatened to turn them all green and silver, they backed off pretty quickly. It helped that Lily fixed Severus with a dark glare and he started sulking, calling his nasty little friends off.

It wasn't until two days later that Ruby even talked to any of them. In a cool voice, she asked James to pass the potatoes at dinner. He was so excited about it that he nearly dropped them in her lap, but she didn't glare at him but smiled rather nicely at him. "Thanks."

Later that night in common room, Ruby could be seen huddled in the corner with Amery, a big smile lighting up her face. It was a happy sight to the boys who shared a room with Amery who had to endure the last several days of his whining. Sirius thought for sure at this rate, Roo would be talking to him in no time. However, three more days passed and all she did was barely acknowledge him with cool indifference. At first, Sirius made several attempts to talk to her. Tried appealing to her between classes and during meals. After a full day of trying to win her over, Sirius started to get angry. It was complete bollocks that she was still acting like he killed her cat or something.

And she did have a mangy calico cat he'd sure like to get rid of. Sirius was convinced the thing was part kneazle.

Ruby acted like she wasn't the one who jinxed them first, and then treated Amery and James normally after just a few days when they were in on it too! He refused to make anymore attempts to be nice, and started sneering back in her direction. If she wanted to act like an entitled brat, than he could act like an even bigger one.

* * *

There was a part of Ruby that felt bad for treating Sirius so badly, but there was an even bigger part of her who remembered what it was like to have your head engorged almost 3 times larger than normal size all while having people shrieking at her. She still felt the hot sting of embarrassment whenever she thought about that morning. Although Ruby did have to give Sirius credit for the new shade of hair she decided she loved, she was still angry at him for going after her in the first place.

It didn't matter how many times she said it, but Ruby really hadn't been aiming for her brother when she cast that oppungo spell. It was meant for the goblet in the Slytherin's captain's hand as he passed by. But of course when it came to the Marauders (she still couldn't believe James, Sirius, Remus and Pete were calling themselves that) and company, it was all about them all the time. Of course after the spoons and forks starting dancing on top of their heads, she had to laugh.

However, Ruby had not expected her head to be blown up like that.

Mary told her later that Sirius had said Peter had messed him up and he wasn't sure why the spell had gone haywire. It didn't matter though because she eventually bullied the story out of Peter anyways, that it had been their plan all along; they were just surprised when no one could get it to stop. The hair had been an unfortunate side affect, as Sirius' intentions had been to turn her face orange on top of it all.

The boys moped around for days, before Ruby took pity on James first. She figured he was the least guilty out of the bunch. After letting James off the hook, she couldn't cut Amery off any longer so he was the next to go. As much as Roo loved her friends, nothing could really compare to not talking to her twin for days. Since they were born, they were inseparable, as cliché and tired as it sounded.

Sirius however, she felt deserved a little more cold shoulder, considering he was the one who actually did the spell. Plus, she spent all this time acting mad, she didn't want to seem soft forgiving him so easily. It was hard to keep being mad when he made such an effort to be nice to her. Just as Ruby was about to cave though, it seemed like a switch flipped on in Sirius and he started glaring in her direction every time she was near.

Well, she couldn't very well go crawling back to him to forgive her when he was the one who acted like a revenge bent prat. After all, he was the one who traumatized her, not the other way around.

Tensions were running high in the common room whenever Ruby and Sirius were down there at the same time. He glared at her because he thought she was still mad, and she glared right back because she thought he was being a jerk right after hexing her.

It was nearly two weeks after the incident, and Ruby and Sirius were still glowering at each other when they got the chance. It moved on from intense glares to snippy retorts until one night, it was a full blow out and Ruby screamed until she was red in the face. After getting it out of her system, Ruby was willing to let it go until Sirius ended the fight with another snarky comment.

"Great, now your face matches your hair." He snapped before turning heel and stomping up to the boy's dorms.

Following him to the foot of the stairs, she screamed back at him, "Well remember it was YOUR fault my hair is even like this, you giant, bullying wanker!"

At this point everyone in the common room was watching her very intently until her head snapped back around and fixed them all with the meanest, nastiest glare she could manage. It did look quite odd on a person like Ruby, who was normally so happy. "What? Someone else have anything to say?" People turned away quickly, their nose back to their books, or staring very intently into the fire as if it were interesting.

Ruby sighed loudly, blowing her long bangs from her face before sulking across the room and grabbing Amery by the arm. "You're on my side now, and you aren't going to talk to him anymore! Not when he's being such a huge tit!"

"But Roo-"

"No Amery! I am your sister!"

"Look Roo, I know you were mad, but this has really gone on too long." Amery said with a sad shake of his head.

"_It's his own fault Amery Felix Zeller, don't you dare blame me!_" Ruby hissed at him, her eyes narrowing in his direction.

"Well, you haven't exactly been reasonable, and he was really sorry about it. He was trying to apologize but you just kept glaring at him. Kinda like you're doing now." No one said Amery got into Gryffindor for nothing, standing up to Ruby when she was like this, practically breathing fire at him, was nothing short of brave, or very stupid.

"I can't believe you're siding with him!" With one last huff, Ruby turned away from him and stomped the whole way up the stairs, making sure to slam the door loudly.

The next morning saw Sirius in a very surly mood and Ruby with red rimmed eyes. To everyone's surprise, Ruby sat herself down right next to Sirius. She glanced at him expecting him to turn her away but again everyone was surprised when he shook his head very slightly, a small smile working across his lips.

After a seconds pause, Ruby threw her arms around Sirius' neck and hugged him as tight as she could. He awkwardly patted her back, until she pulled away and he affectionately ruffled her hair. "You know, red just might be your color Roo."

An unreadable look passed across her face a moment before she burst out laughing. Ruby laughed so hard, tears started to build up in the corner of her eyes. After a minute, and several bewildered stares, she finally turned back to Sirius who only looked at her with amusement. "Yeah, you think so?" He nodded.

"Then let's just say this was a very elaborate scheme to get me to realize my true color then."

* * *

**Thanks for all the hits guys! Hope you liked the new chapter, please review if you have the time, it would make my day! :)**


	4. Chapter Four

**Sorry for the late update! Been battling colds and ear infections! I should have my regular Thursday update this week two to make up for missing last week. As a reminder, I don't own Harry Potter, just my OCs and of course, this chapter takes place during fourth year!**

* * *

Ruby just had a feeling when she woke up that it would be a bad day. Not only did she oversleep but it seemed as if all the Gryffindor girls were still in bed which was a bad sign all of its own. She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, and sat up in bed, her red hair sticking up in every direction. Ruby couldn't believe that Lily Evans of all people was still sleeping, besides Willow she woke up the earliest. Willow hardly counted though because she was up odd hours of the night and day all the time. Ruby saw that Willow was sitting up in bed, her disheveled blonde hair hanging in her face. Usually by this time, Willow was already up, in the showers singing strange songs loud enough that girls in other dorms could hear them.

This was definitely a bad omen.

"Everything okay Willow?" Ruby swung her legs over the bed, pushing her sweaty hair away from her face. Her voice was still low, husky from sleep. God, she really wished she could sleep in. She'd kill for the weekend. She just had to get through today though, and she could sleep well into the afternoon tomorrow.

"Yeah, just kneazles trying to scratch my eyes out in my dreams." Willow's voice was always low, with a dreamy sort of quality. She was always a bit strange, but Ruby liked her anyways. She was very kind, but generally pretty quiet, especially in comparison to her fellow dorm mates.

"That's bollocks." Ruby mumbled, padding over to Lily's bedside. She knew her friend would be livid that she had slept so late, it made her smile a little bit. "Are you gonna get dressed?" She was still thrown off by the lack of Willow, up and flouncing around the room humming tunes under her breath. In the three years that they lived together, there wasn't one a morning where they didn't wake up to that.

"No, I think I'm going to have a bit of a lie in." It took Willow a moment to answer, but she offered Ruby a serene sort of smile before sliding back under her covers.

"Right," She turned back to Lily and yanked the pillow out from underneath her head. "Get up! Breakfast will be over soon!" Ruby took a shot at her face before throwing Lily's pillow onto Mary's bed. "You too Macdonald. You're both slacking!"

As expected, Lily shrieked and flew out of bed. Ruby couldn't recall a time she'd seen anyone get dressed so quickly. She was still working a brush through her knots when Lily came rushing out of the bathroom, her own (natural, not Sirius Black induced) red hair was in a pony tail and she had a slight look of panic in her eyes. "Come on! We need to eat, I can't believe I slept so late. I really wanted to review our Transfiguration notes this morning."

"Oh calm down Lily, everyone knows you're the best at transfiguration anyways. Do you even really need to study?" Mary snorted from the bathroom, not doubt applying a generous amount of mascara to her lashes.

"Well I got good because I _studied_." Lily retorted with a snap before grabbing Ruby by the forearm and dragging her down the stairs.

"I didn't even brush my hair Lils, god!" Roo shouted at her, trying in vain to brush her hair while running at the same time.

"You never brush your hair Roo, shove off!"

"Has anyone ever told you how much of a dictator you can be?"

"What are you two harpies squawking about now?" Sirius' voice sounded groggy, like he had just woken up himself. Judging by the rumbled shirt, untied tie, and messy hair that rivaled James on a good day, Ruby would have to guess that he did.

"We aren't squawking Black, you sexist git. We're just running late!" Lily snapped at him, frantically puling away the cushions on one of the chairs trying to locate her favorite quill.

"Late? I'd say you're perfectly on time." Ruby rolled her eyes at him, after three years she thought maybe he'd caught on to just Lily be when she got like this, but apparently not.

"Nice hair Sirius, I didn't know you looked up to James so much." Ruby interjected before Lily could snap some more.

"I could say the same thing about you. At least I don't have a little drool mark on my chin." His grin was cocky as he strode out of the room, and through the portrait.

"Arsehole." She shook her head, before picking up a quill on a nearby end table. "This it, Lily?" Merlin, what would they do without her?

* * *

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a similar manner, a lot of snapping and running behind. By the time potions, their last class of the day rolled around, Ruby was weary. Her head felt heavy and as much as she loved her friends, she was about sick of all of them. Maybe she could skip potions, and kip up to the dorms. Potions were bad enough on a regular day, let alone where she was tired and irritated. It was easily Ruby's worst subject, she did not have the patience for potion brewing, ingredient gathering and cauldron stirring. Lily tried to help where she could, but it hardly mattered when she was so poor at the subject.

When she voiced her plans to skip to Peter, who was even worse than her, thought it was a great idea. However, Lily Evans did not, and all about dragged her friend down to the dungeons. It was easy for Lily, she was a genius at potions, and Slughorn just barely resisted kissing the ground she walked on. However, he did not particularly care for Ruby, who was abysmal at potions and routinely snarked at him. She didn't think it was fair that a teacher was playing favorites so obviously. Alongside James and Sirius, Ruby was one of the best in Transfiguration, didn't mean McGonagall was running around inviting them to parties.

It was one of the few classes they had with Slytherins so as soon as Lily saw her friend was safely confined in the dungeons, she took her usual seat next to Severus Snape. Much like her friend's love for potions, Roo could not grasp her friendship with Snape. She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt at first knowing how close he and Lily were. Except she was the only one who tried, Severus was rude and a bit of a bully. After a while, Ruby gave up the pretentious idea that she and Snape could ever be friends, although she never could really approve of the harsh pranks that James and Sirius dished out, she couldn't help but laugh at the more mild ones. Perhaps if Severus had even made an attempt, she'd be a little less disgusted with him. Everyone knew that he was into Dark Magic, and hung around bigger bullies than the likes of Potter and Black.

Ruby threw her bag down next to Amery, sliding into her spot with a not so happy look on her face. "You know, potions might be easier for you if you actually tried."

"Stuff it Amery."

"I'm just saying, it's not that bad."

"Well your transfiguration grades are, and I don't say anything to you about it." Ruby snapped, wrestling her potions book out of her backpack.

"Touchy, touchy. Lighten up Roo. Who pissed in your pumpkin juice this morning?"

Ruby tried very hard to continue to look mad but she couldn't help but smile a little. Amery grinned at her, ruffling her bright red hair. While Ruby was still short, skinny, and all elbows, Amery was starting to look a little more grown up than his sister. He was finally growing into his broad shoulders, and shot up a few inches. Amery certainly wasn't tall by any means, only barely taller than Peter, but since Roo was so tiny it made a big difference to him.

"It was probably Peter, but only because you put him up to it." Before Amery could take the chance to retort, Slughorn came bounding through the door, shushing his students.

"Today we'll be working on some antidotes for your common poisons." Slughorn said loudly, stopping short in front Lily and Snape's table, of course. "Now before you go and partner yourselves off, we're going to be changing things up a bit!" He said this with a jolly grin, like whatever he had planned was a great idea.

Roo didn't know what it was, but already knew in the pit of her stomach that it would not be. "Some of you need, uh, well a little more help than what your usual partner has to provide. So I'll be assigning you partners based on skill level." Slughorn eyed Ruby and Peter closely. At least she could have the solace of knowing that she was not as bad as Peter.

"That being said, Lily, be a dear and take a seat next to Mr. Pettigrew. And Severus, please switch seats with Mr. Zeller." Slughorn went about pairing people but Ruby just wanted to crawl under her table and die. She knew she should have skipped potions today. Why couldn't she stay with Amery? He did fairly well, enough to be partnered up with Remus who despite being extremely smart, was not a potion brewer at heart.

At least she wasn't the only one who looked disgusted at their new seat mates. Try to disguise it as she might, Lily looked less than pleased that she had to help Peter struggle through something that would ordinarily be a cake walk for her. Avery was seated next to Sirius who looked like he wanted to throttle him on sight. The only ones who made out okay were Amery and Remus, and James and Willow. Bastards.

Snape sulked over to Ruby's table, pulling the seat as far away as he could and slumping low into the chair. He fixed her with a look that said he personally blamed her for this turn of events, as if she asked Slughorn to be paired up with the slimeball. Roo heaved a loud sigh before turning to face Severus, a very tight and forced smile on her face.

"Let's just get through this, okay?"

Severus said nothing but snorted in her general direction and bent over to pull his potions book out. "Just stay out of my way."

"Excuse me?" Roo snapped before she could stop herself. "You know, you really need to accept that you aren't Lily's only friend and being a massive git to her other friends is uncool and only alienates you from her." She spat in a low voice after Slughorn moved past their table. "Get over yourself Snape, Lily's life doesn't revolve around you. And it'd hurt her feelings knowing her little snake pal was being a bit of a piss ant to one of her other friends."

With that, Severus turned his head sharply away from Ruby and she knew he was watching Lily frantically trying to keep Peter from adding an ingredient too early. He said nothing but began to set up his cauldron. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She threw herself back down in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest. She'd let Snape do all the work, he liked potions anyways, take her grade and be done with it.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence, the only time Ruby moved was when Slughorn made his rounds and she pretended to be helping. "For someone so concerned about Lily's feelings, you are certainly a hypocrite." Severus spoke up after a few minutes of silence.

"I wouldn't let her hear you lumping James and Sirius in as her friends." Ruby retorted with a snort. "If that's your issue, you should take it up with them. Not me. I'm not privy to the inter workings of their minds. And even if I was, I'd say you deserved some of it." She answered with a shrug. "Hanging out people like Mulciber who thinks dabbling in the Dark Arts is something to be proud of. Don't think we've forgotten what happened to Mary." Ruby sneered, a hard glint in her eye and an edge to her voice. "You're not innocent."

If there was a surefire way to get on Ruby Zeller's bad side, it was to mess with her friends. So when Damian Mulciber attacked Mary at the beginning of the year, attempting to use the Imperius curse on her, Ruby lost all ideas of house unity. Especially after he got away with it because Mary couldn't remember the details of what happened. She did remember that Snape was there, and that he just stood in the background, watching. It had caused a rift between the girls for a while, Lily not wanting (and still didn't) to believe her oldest friend played a part in it.

Ruby made sure to hex Mulciber relentlessly anytime she saw him afterwards. "Lily might think you're a decent person, but you're not. You're a cowardly fool who hides behind his bigger friends. Spouting off about how much you hate Muggles when your best friend is a Muggle born." Ruby slammed her book shut and glared at Snape who glared back.

"I am not a coward." He hissed, the potion sat forgotten as they eyed each other.

"Yes you are, and I hope Lily realizes it sooner than later before you can hurt her too." Roo grabbed her bag off the ground and hitched it over her shoulder and stalked to the back of the room ignoring Slughorn calling her name.

"Roo, what's wrong?" Sirius called from his empty table near the door. It looked like he chased off his partner as well, judging by the angry looks Avery was throwing his way. "Oh don't mind Lysander, his eyebrows just got a little singed is all." He answered with a bright smile. It faltered a bit, noticing the murderous look on Ruby's face.

"Severus Snape is the slimiest, greasiest, most foul person in the whole world." She dropped down next to Sirius, hoping that Slughorn would just let her be. The mention of Snape sent Sirius's cheerful face into a dark frown.

"What'd he say to you Roo? I swear, I'll strangle him." Sirius barked, abruptly rising from his chair as if he was going to strangle Snape in front of a room full of witnesses. Ruby grabbed his arm and yanked him back down. What good were friends if they didn't stop you from going to Azkaban? If he was gonna murder Snape, best to do it when no one else was around.

"He was just being himself. Talking about how I'm a hypocrite because no one considers his slimy feelings. Never mind he was t here when everything with Mary went down and he acts like it wasn't wrong."

Mary hadn't come to class for nearly two weeks after the incident. It had been Willow to find her in the loos that day, crying hysterically in one of the stalls, hours after Mulciber went after her. Everyone else had just thought Moaning Myrtle took up a new stall.

Luckily Ruby and Lily weren't too far behind Willow and helped escort her down to the Hospital Wing. Her blouse had been torn, bruises imprinted into her arms and legs. They all had an idea of what happened or what Mulciber had wanted to happen, but Mary never said and they never pried. When Mary finally came back to classes, the girls formed a protective circle around, effectively shutting out anyone who tried to question her. James and the rest of the boys jumped in when the Slytherins started to taunt her at the beginning of her first potions class. It resulted in detentions for most of the fourth years that day, but they weren't going let them hurt their friend anymore.

It culminated into a near all out brawl a few days later on the grounds when Mulciber tries to compliment Mary on her shirt. After Lily unleashed a painful stinging hex to the back of his pants, Ruby opened up the ground underneath him and sent him falling into a six foot ditch.

"What did he say about Mary?" Sirius asked through a clenched jaw. Although Mary and Sirius weren't as close as say Ruby and Sirius, the Gryffindors were their own make shift family, especially to someone like Sirius who didn't get along with his real family.

"Nothing, but he didn't deny anything either. Just drop it Sirius. No use going after him in class." Sirius grunted, and aimed another dark glare at the back of Snape's head before turning back to his friend. "Come on, we're ditching."

He grabbed Roo by the forearm, and waited until Slughorn started gushing about Lily's potion before sneaking out the moment she stepped out of the oppressive dungeons, Ruby felt lighter. Less like she wanted to hang Snape up by his toes al-a Argus Filch, the newest care taker at Hogwarts.

"Kitchens?" Sirius questioned, pulling Ruby's arm through his.

"I could eat like twelve éclairs right now." She answered with a grin. Dashing down the halls, and flittering around corners, the pair made it to the Kitchen portrait, still arm in arm.

"Thanks Sirius." Ruby rocketed up onto her tip toes and placed a light kiss to his cheek. "I would have committed homicide if I stayed in there any longer."

"No problem Roo," Sirius answered with a light blush and an easy smile, although he had no idea what a 'homicide' was. He reached forward to tickle the pear and pushed Ruby through the portrait hole rather ungracefully, trying not to laugh too hard when she face planted.

* * *

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I have a definite love/hate relationship with Snape, and I have a really hard time not going into all my headcanons for him! Special thanks to Squidmar for for being my first reviewer. I can't tell you all how much it means to me! It keeps me motivated to keep on posting. Another shout out to DeathofShadows for taking the time to send me a very nice message. All the feedback is much loved, and so appreciated! Please review if you get the chance :)**


	5. Chapter Five

**Alright, chapter five! As always, I don't own Harry Potter, just the OCs you encounter. Reminder this chapter takes place during fifth year!**

* * *

For the first time in weeks, Ruby felt like she could breathe. OWLs were over, and she could rightfully relax by the lake. Ever since their first year at Hogwarts, the Zeller siblings had an end of year tradition. At first it had just been Jude, Ruby and Amery, but when Zane joined their older brother in Hufflepuff the next year, the four of them always met down by the lake. After Jude graduated and went off to auror training, it had turned into just the three of them. This year though, the youngest Zeller Naomi, a new student to Ravenclaw was joining them for the end of year picnic.

The Gryffindors tended to be a wild bunch, especially with James Potter in their midst, so Ruby never felt bad about spending the last exam day with her siblings knowing that there would be some kind of celebration in the tower later. No matter how much Lily objected. She was a new prefect this year and had tried to use her new powers to reign the Marauders (Ruby still couldn't believe that ridiculous name) in. She even appealed to Remus, who was also wearing a prefect badge this year but her pleas fell on deaf ears. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were as close as brothers. And as someone who had three brothers, Ruby knew they'd never give each other up.

Orla Zeller made regular care packages for her children off at school (and even for Jude who moved into his own flat) but her end of the year ones were always the best. There was no need for the Zeller kids (i.e. Amery and Roo) to knick food from the kitchens as long as she kept sending packages. They usually converged mid afternoon, and piled their food together. Sometimes Roo invited Lily to join them, who often felt isolated from her own sister. The year before, the Marauders had crashed but with good intentions of bringing more food.

However, being as this was Naomi's first year, she told everyone (except Lily) to bugger off. She didn't need to be scared by the likes of Sirius and James. Peter and Remus were much more mild mannered, but the other two could be over the top. Naomi was much more reserved and skittish than her older siblings.

They were all just about to tuck into some kidney pie when Sirius's bark like laugh floated down to water's edge. Normally she wouldn't think much of it, but it was followed by James' taunting voice. Roo sighed to herself, knowing that the pair of them were probably concocting some unfunny prank. She had known James and Sirius for her entire Hogwarts life, and she knew that they were good guys. They just seemed to overshadow that by being arrogant, pig headed bullies.

When Naomi nudged her in the side with a soft smile, Ruby decided that whatever James and Sirius were up too was none of her business. She ruffled her sister's blonde hair, and had all but turned her back when she heard Lily's voice carry over the small hill. Severus Snape's voice intermixed with hers and before any of her siblings could fix her with a weird look, Ruby jumped up and made way to the commotion. "Be right back." She knew Lily was having some trouble with her slimy friend, and while Roo did not like Snape even a little bit, she wouldn't let Lily get worked up over one of James' stupid idea of a joke.

Honestly, she wasn't sure who was obsessed with Lily more, Snape or James.

She just about reached her red headed friend when she heard it. Mudblood. It was almost enough for Ruby herself to march up to Snape and try to rearrange that big nose of his. She barely heard the exchange between the three of them before Lily turned and booked it back to the castle. James looked upset for a few seconds before turning back to Snape with a vindictive smirk on his face.

"Put him down James. Right now." Ruby called out, drawing her own wand. She couldn't believe they were acting like this, it was the last day for Merlin's sake.

"Bugger off Roo," He snapped, his eyes never leaving Snape who was suspended in mid air.

"I swear James if you do not put him down, you'll be joining him in a second. You are being an idiot." She retorted, moving closer to him. "All of you are." Ruby made a point to give Remus a harsh look, even though he was still pretending to be invested in his book.

"Why do you care? You hate Snape just as much as us." Sirius sneered, angry at his friend for defending the little creep.

"Yeah, but I care about Lily more, and you are upsetting her James. If you really cared about her, you'd stop it. I'm warning you one last time, let Snape down." At this point, a small group of people formed around them, including Amery, Zane and Naomi. It seemed though most were in favor of taking of Snape's pants, which was a sight no one needed to see. James looked like he was considering her before turning his wand back to Severus.

"Levicorpus!" Ruby aimed her spell at James, who shot up in the air by his ankle. Within a second, she deflected whatever Sirius had tried to send her way, and sent him flying up with his friend as well. "I can't believe you." She hissed before turning to Snape and letting him drop to the ground. "And don't you even think of trying to talk to Lily after what you just called her, you slime ball." Ruby fixed Remus and Peter with disapproving glares before turning her back on all of them.

"Sorry to cut it short guys, but I have to find Lily." Amery and Zane both nodded in understanding while Ruby hunched slightly to hug her younger sister. "We'll do something fun when we get home, promise." Naomi looked a little teary eyed but hugged her sister back tightly.

* * *

There were plenty of places for Lily to hide, but Roo knew she'd be back up in the tower. There was the guarantee that Snape couldn't come after her, and the stairs offered her reprieve from James, if someone had let him down that is. Ruby tore through the castle, dodging people on the stairs and straight up pushing people out of her way.

"Lily?" She called out quietly to her friend, once she reached the girls dorms. She didn't answer but sniffed in Ruby's general direction. Roo moved across the room, dropping down on the foot of Lily's bed and patting the lumpy blanket. "If it makes you feel any better, I strung James and Sirius up by their ankles for being such wankers."

Lily offered her a quiet chuckle before starting to cry loudly. Although she considered herself a good friend, and a good listener, Ruby was not very good at comforting crying people. So she was very relieved to see Mary, and Willow come rushing through the doors. Mary should become a counselor or something; Ruby thought as she swooped in on Lily and started whispering words of comfort. Willow and Roo kept their distance, both awkward but wanting to be supportive.

Willow moved to her own bed, pulling a surplus of cloth flowers from her trunk and began weaving them into elaborate head bands for each one of the girls. Once Lily's tears had slowed, the blonde took a seat next to her and placed the delicate flower crown on top of her head.

"Thanks Will, it's beautiful." Lily said with a somber smile, as all the girls donned their new head gear. Before anyone else could comment, they heard a voice down the stairs shouting up for Ruby. She was going to ignore it, thinking it was James or Sirius, but she recognized after a minute that it was Amery. She excused herself before trotting down the stairs to face her brother.

"Figured you guys might need this." Amery said, handing over the basket full of food they had planned for their lake side lunch.

"Thanks Am, you're the best." Ruby hugged her brother around the neck with her free arm. "Where are James and Sirius?" Her voice got considerably colder.

"Well, Remus was going to let them down but I thought they needed to hang for a bit." Amery said dismissively, with a sly sort of grin. "I eventually let them down so now they are pissed at you and me." Ruby could have cried, knowing that her brother would always be on her side. "They are still outside though. Snape on the other hand," He looked considerably less happy when he brought up the Slytherin. "He's outside pacing the doorway asking everyone to get Lily for him."

Ruby sighed heavily, "I'll deal with it. Thanks for this Amery, really." She kissed his cheek before darting back up to the girl's dorms where Lily was surrounded by the other girls laughing at the ridiculous designs that Willow had drawn up. "Leftovers from Mrs. Zeller herself. I just gotta pop back down for a minute to deal with something." Before they could question her, Ruby was bounding back down the stairs and out through the portrait hole.

"Get out of here." She called out to Severus who had slunk into the shadows at the sight of her. "Lily doesn't want to talk to you and if you keep creeping around, what James and Sirius did will seem like child's play once I'm done with you." Ruby might have been little, more filled out and adult looking than the previous year, but still tiny, but she could make an imposing figure when she wanted. She pulled herself up to her full height, puffed out her chest a little, and placed her hands on her hips in a scary imitation of her own mother.

"I want to talk to Lily, not you." Severus sneered, taking a step out of the darkened corner.

"I don't care what you want, Snivellus." Ruby bit out. "You humiliated her today, you were only concerned about what your stupid little Purist friends thought about the dirty mudblood coming to your rescue. You only care about yourself." She drew her wand and pointed it in his direction. "If I so much as hear as whisper of you skulking around here anymore, I will perform the best entrail expelling curse you've ever seen." Ruby said nothing else as she turned on her heel and stormed back into the common room.

"Tell her how sorry I am." She heard Snape mutter before the portrait slammed shut.

* * *

With a combined effort, the girls kept Lily in good spirits for the rest of the day and night, only leaving the dorm to fetch some pumpkin juice, where unfortunately Lily encountered Snape still lurking outside. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay holed up in there forever as they had the train to board the next morning. With heavy hearts, they packed up their school books, and dragged their trunks down to the common room. From there someone else loaded them on the train for them. Lily took one glance at James and bolted from the common room. Willow and Mary followed suit after fixing James with a scathing look, trying to catch up with and secure a good spot on the train. Ruby lingered behind, telling them that she wanted to catch up with Amery but she really wanted to corner James.

"Don't you even start with me Sirius Black, unless you want me to ignore your letters all summer, bugger off. I'm still mad at you."

"Like I'm not mad at you!" Sirius snorted.

"I don't care if you're mad at me, you were behaving like a bunch of children, and you deserved it." She shoved him out of her way and faced James. "We need to talk."

With a nod, James dismissed his other friends, Remus and Peter both filling out the door with a sheepish smile in Roo's direction and Sirius openly huffing and puffing. With everyone else gone, it left only him, Ruby and a younger students loitering around. "What?" His voice was harsher than what she was used too. James was usually very lively and always friendly so it was strange for Ruby to be regarded like that.

"What happened yesterday was really out of line, James. I think Snape is as much as a wanker as you, but I respect Lily's friendship with him. And if you ever want Lily to fancy you back, you need to get on board with that." She sighed heavily. "Not that it matters, because I don't think they'll be friends anymore. But bullying will not endear you to her, James. It just makes you look like an even bigger prat."

James looked like he was about to argue for a second before frowning and throwing an arm around Ruby and began guiding her out the portrait hole and through the hallways. He was never the type to stay mad for long. "I know Roo, I just don't know what gets into me when she's around." She tried very hard not to roll her eyes at the dreamy note his voice took. "Snivellus doesn't even deserve her friendship-"

"I agree but it doesn't mean you should start hurling him up in the air every time you see him. You just look like an arse. Not saying it excuses him, but according to Lily, his family is pretty messed up. I think you acting like that just reminds her of his parents. I don't think you want that association James. Everyone knows you're a good guy, you just act like a total pig sometimes."

At least there was no one who could say that Ruby Zeller wasn't honest.

The pair walked in silence through the corridors and to the grounds before James spoke again. "Yeah, I guess you're right." James said simply, sighing in defeat.

"I am right James. I love you guys, but Lily is my best friend. I think you'd stand a chance if you grew up a little."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Roo." There was a smile on his face when it said it.

"Anytime James, or what is it that the rest of the guys call you? Prongs."

James definitely grinned at that, ruffling Ruby's hair as they approached the train.

"Yeah Prongs, but that's an exclusive Marauder's only nick name."

"Aren't I an honorary 'Marauders' member yet?" She asked with an eye roll, what a stupid name.

"Nope, sorry. No girls allowed!" James shouted as he dropped his arm from her shoulders and started jogging to catch up with Remus.

"Thanks for talking Ruby. I'll tell Sirius to remove the stick up his arse. He's just mad you got the drop on him."

The day Ruby Zeller stopped rolling her eyes at James would be the day the world stopped spinning.

* * *

**I was really looking forward to writing this chapter. I had something else planned originally, but I figured a take on Snape's worst memory would be better. I am back on my regular updating schedule! I have chapter six finished for next week and chapter seven (where the flash backs will stop and the story will move forward) started which will hopefully keep me a chapter or two ahead of posting. Chapter six was A LOT of fun to write. If you like fluff, be prepared for lots of it! Please let me know what you think! I love hearing from you.**


	6. Chapter Six

**So I decided to post this one a little early, mostly because I got some new reviews on my last few chapters! The usual disclaimer, I don't own anything except for my OCs. This chapter takes place during 6th year!**

* * *

"Come on Roo! You just need to get that parchment out of Mary's bag. It's Pete's, he didn't mean to leave it lying around." Sirius pleaded as Ruby stood in the middle of the stairs leading up to the girl's dorms. Her hands rested on her hips as she fixed him with a disbelieving look. Her unnaturally red hair was sitting high on her head. Her legs and arms were covered in mud, and her mud coated robes hung over her shoulder. They had just made it out of Quidditch practice when Peter told them that Mary had stuffed a piece of his parchment into her bag.

It wasn't so much that they were worried about a random blank piece of parchment, but what was really on that piece was important. At least Peter had enough sense to wipe it clean before carelessly setting it on the table in the library. They had spent the better half of fifth year and this year working on the Map. It wasn't an easy feat, creating a map of the whole castle that kept track of where everyone else. James and Remus mostly worked on it, being the bests at Charms. Although it had been Peter's idea for the Map to insult anyone who tried to open it.

The problem was that everyone knew who Moony, Wormtail, Prongs and Padfoot were. The boys made no effort in concealing their clever little nicknames for each other. So if Mary tried to use that parchment, it'd be easy to see that the Marauders had been behind it.

Ruby was their only choice.

Lily would have flat out refused or tried to turn it into McGonagall just assuming they were up to something. Mary would have been just as suspicious, and well, Willow. She was too weird to function.

"Don't one of you have a spare bit that he can borrow?" Ruby was exasperated. It was a piece of parchment for Merlin's sake. She just wanted to get into the shower.

"Look, I didn't wanna say anything but," Sirius paused trying to think of some plausible excuse. They needed the Map, it was a full moon and if they had any chance of getting to Remus, they needed it. "Pete was writing on it with invisible ink, Mary's name and stuff. He really fancies her Roo! He'd die if she found it."

It wasn't really a lie, Wormtail had been harboring a crush on Mary Macdonald for ages. He probably just wouldn't appreciate him telling anyone about it. However Wormtail would just have to suck it up, this was for the greater good.

As if no one noticed how he stared at her in lessons.

"Peter owes me." Ruby heaved a loud sigh and trudged up the rest of the stairs. Luckily the other girls were still down at dinner, and they wouldn't see her rooting through Mary's bag like some common criminal. Peter was lucky that she felt for him or else she wouldn't be rifling through her friends stuff.

Except there were multiple blanket parchment pieces all through Mary's bag, and Ruby groaned loudly again. She just took them all and would let Sirius figure out which one held Peter's dirty little secret.

"Here, there were a bunch in there." Roo thrust a mud crusted hand at him. By this point, Peter and James had assembled around him, Peter looking particularly sheepish.

If she didn't want to shower so badly, Ruby might have thought it was sweet.

Sirius and James turned over every single parchment piece, examining each thoroughly until Sirius held one up in the air triumphantly. "Got it!"

She rolled her eyes before gathering up the other bits to put back in Mary's bag before regarding them with a suspicious look. They were up to something. James and Sirius looked too excited, and the former had a bag slung over his shoulder. "What are you three up too?" She raised an eyebrow at them.

"Nothing. We're just gonna see Remus off before he goes and visits his mum." James said way too quickly, feigning innocence.

Ruby nearly snorted out loud. Yeah, Remus going to visit his mother, as if that old tired excuse was still holding up. They called him Moony and didn't expect anyone to pick up on it. Although it hadn't been Ruby who figured it out (all credit went to Lily, and she swore Ruby to secrecy) it made perfect sense that Remus Lupin was a werewolf once the puzzle pieces fit together. They didn't know the part that the other boys played in his transformation, but she knew they involved.

She could understand his reluctance to tell other people, but after spending so many years together, she would think Remus was smart enough to realize that they wouldn't just drop him because of something out of his control. Stupid boy.

"Right." Ruby did roll her eyes that time. "If that piece of parchment implicates me in whatever trouble you lot get into, I'll send Filch after you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm headed to the showers. I stink after a certain Captain," Roo paused to give James a hard look which he just smirked proudly at. "Made us run laps in the rain. So thanks. Stay out of trouble, yeah?" Ruby turned away from them and started making her way back up to the girl's dorm.

"Good job almost exposing us Wormtail." James snorted after bringing up the Map with a simple "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

"It wasn't on purpose!" Peter mumbled something else but Sirius wasn't paying attention. His eyes were still focusing on watching the last bit of Ruby disappear up the stairs. Something about the way her shirt and shorts clung to her muddy body was doing things to him, and he wasn't sure if he was really all that objected to it.

Maybe it was the gentle sway of her slender hips that had been calling his name, telling him to ditch his friends and try to make it up the stairs to join her. Sirius shook his head almost violently as if he could physically shake it out of his head, still unable to tear his eyes away from the stair case.

Ruby Zeller was certainly not the type of girl that Sirius went after. Namely because she was his only genuine girl friend, and you didn't ruin that over a chance to snog. And mostly because there were girls like Dorcas Meadowes running around, sleek dark hair and all long legs. Ruby was cute, but not in a typical way, with the little gap between her front teeth, and that unnatural hair of hers. Sirius could remember when she was just a mousy blonde full of pointy elbows. She definitely looked a bit more mature nowadays, still with a fit boyish figure.

Contrary to popular belief, Sirius didn't chase after girls too often. Mostly because they came after him, and second, he'd much rather run around with his friends and girlfriends usually interfered with that.

There was just something about Roo that struck him in that moment, even though her hair was a mess and she was dirty and sweaty. He knew how sweaty too, because they ran their laps side by side. Hell, she was so filthy because Sirius thought it was funny to push her into the biggest mud puddle he saw.

"Padfoot, you okay mate?" James' voice brought him out of his day dreaming which was a good thing because it started with following his dorm mate's twin sister up to her room, and ended getting sweatier.

"Yeah, fine. Sorry." He shook his head again, thinking maybe he needed to start talking to Dorcas again. He was getting girl crazy, obviously. Roo was like everyone's little sister, not that they'd ever tell her that.

Although Sirius would never admit it, there had always been something about Ruby. Maybe it was because she punched him in the forehead upon meeting and that scrambled his brains a bit.

"Well once you're out of your trance then, let's go. Remus just went down to the hospital wing, so we have time to for a quick dinner and planning."

Sirius just nodded his head, gave the girl's staircase one more glance, just to be sure and followed his friends through the portrait hole. 

* * *

They left Remus in the hospital wing that night. Sometimes they tried to stay and if Pomfrey was feeling kind, she let them. They always made sure to come 'visit' a good twenty plus minutes after she fetched him from the Whomping Willow which gave them some time to clean up after running around all night.

James and Peter went directly up to the dorms, luckily this full moon fell on a Friday so they were able to sleep in on their weekend. The nights were they had class the next day were always rough. Remus got to recuperate in the hospital wing while they tried to catch an hour or so of sleep before going throughout the day.

Sirius, still feeling a bit wired after a night of tromping through the woods opted to stay down in the common room for a bit, and give him some time to mellow out. He always found it hard to sleep after a full moon, his adrenaline was still running high by the time the sun rose, so he mostly stayed up for the rest of the morning and crashed during afternoon lessons. Skipping out on potions was the best, anyways.

About to plop down on the nearest couch, Sirius luckily caught himself before landing on another body. It wasn't too unusual to find someone passed out in the common room but most people were decent about waking them up and sending them to their dorms. He was surprised to see Ruby, bright red hair spread out underneath her head, curled up against the couch with a blanket tucked around her.

"Roo, wake up." He gave her a gentle shake, brushing her overgrown bangs from her eyes. She made a noise that reminded him a bit of a cat before turning over, trying to pull the blanket over her head. He laughed to himself, Amery always complained that she was impossible to wake up. "C'mon. Time to get back to bed." Sirius nudged her again.

This time Ruby sat up, rubbing her eyes, the blanket still tucked around her body. "No, too cold up there." She mumbled, her head falling back on the couch. Sirius scooted in next to her, only slightly surprised when Roo fell against him. She flailed around a bit, offering him a bit of her covers before closing her eyes against his shoulder. "How's Remus?"

Her voice was still husky from sleep and Sirius found himself having to swallow to speak again. "He's fine." His voice was the one strained now as Roo took the chance to snuggle in deeper to his side. Sirius didn't even question why she was asking about Remus and not his mother.

"S'hats good." Her breathing was starting to even out again and he knew that she was falling back asleep.

"Roo, you should really get back to bed." With more self restraint than he thought possible of himself, Sirius Black made a move to stand and to pull Ruby up with him. She let out a pathetic whine and tugged him back down to the couch.

"Cold." She said simply, curling back into him. "Stay here." Ruby had yet to really open her eyes, still stuck somewhere between sleeping and consciousness. Sirius let his arm fall down her back, hugging her around the hip and just pulled her close.

When in Rome, right?

Though the fire had dimmed but he could see the appeal in sleeping in front of it. It was warm, and his head was starting to feel heavy. He glanced down to Ruby, memorized by the way her dark lashes looked against the paleness of her cheeks. Since spring had finally arrived, light freckles broke out across her nose and dusted over her cheeks.

Feeling much more tired than he did when he came back, Sirius slid down into the couch more, pulling Ruby with him. Did Amery ever make a comment about her talking in her sleep? She was making a lot of noises, but this was a satisfied one from the back of her throat. Without a second thought, Sirius pressed his lips against her forehead, inhaling the clean smell of her shampoo. 

* * *

That's how they were found the next morning, Ruby half sprawled out in Sirius' lap with one his arms draped around her waist. A few giggling first years skirted past them, laughing behind their hands but left them untouched. No need to endure the wrath of a sixth year.

It was when Lily Evans came bounding down the stairs late in the morning, wondering where Ruby was off too so early that the rest of their year was alerted to the precarious position Ruby and Sirius were in. Before she could stop herself, a loud shriek came out of her mouth, causing Mary and Willow to run down after her. James, who always woke up early regardless of his night time activities was already on his way to the common room as well.

"Oh, so this is where Sirius ended up last night." He mused, mostly to himself but did not miss the glare Lily shot in his direction. Apparently she did not find the compromising sleeping arrangement amusing.

Roused by Lily, Ruby opened one sleepy eye and glared at her friend. "Bugger off, it's Saturday." She made a move to roll over, still thinking she was in bed. Roo was surprised when she was hit with the solidness of Sirius Black's chest. She peeked through her eyelashes, up at the waking face of her friend remembering coming down to sleep in front of the fire last night. "Huh," She thought for sure Sirius would have sent her back up to bed. Whatever, everyone always complained that she was a heavy sleeper. Instead of standing around gaping like a fish out of water like Lily, Ruby just turned over and buried her face into his shoulder.

"Hey Roo." Sirius was grinning, mostly at the stupid look on Evans's face, but this wasn't a poor way to wake up. She merely mumbled at him, her words being obscured by his shoulder. "What's wrong Evans?"

"You seducing my friend, that's what!" Lily started, her hands flying to her hips. She saw Sirius and Dorcas parading around the halls sometimes, always trying to find a broom closet to slip into. Ruby was better than that, better than being out on full display in the common room.

At this point, all the commotion drove Amery from his bed, stumbling down the steps to see what the noise was all about. Like his twin sister, he preferred to sleep in and didn't like to be interrupted on the weekends. Everyone's head snapped up to him, standing in the middle of the stairway, expecting some sort of display of brotherly protectiveness.

Amery took one look at the sleeping pair and shook his head. "Couldn't get her to move huh?"

"No, it's like waking the dead."

"Told you." With that, Amery Zeller turned heel and stalked back up to his bed to sleep.

With a grin in Lily's direction (who wore a shocked expression) Sirius patted Ruby's side. "Come on, before Big Red has a coronary." She groaned but pushed herself into a sitting position, her hair sticking out every which way. If it wasn't for the fire engine red, she could have imitated James' look easily.

"Still tired," Roo muttered, her duvet draped around her shoulders like a cape. Still peering out of one eye, she glanced at her cluster of friends. "I was not seduced or anything of the nature. Just go to breakfast." She rolled her eyes, pushing herself up on her feet.

Lily huffed loudly, but strode across the common room and out, no doubt to gossip on their way down to breakfast.

"Ruckus on a Saturday morning, good job Padfoot." James grinned, clapping Sirius on the back and ruffling Ruby's already messed up hair.

Once everyone was gone, Roo collapsed back on the couch, curling up under her blanket. "You're impossible." Sirius laughed, stooping down to brush his lips across her forehead. Roo merely grinned, closing her eyes sleepily.

"Thanks." Her hand darted out from her blanket, grabbing Sirius by the collar. She pulled him down, pressing her mouth against his. "Go to bed Sirius."

* * *

**Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. It seriously makes my day that people are enjoying this story. I usually get discouraged and abandon ship so thank you for the motivation to keep going. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out on time next week, it's turning out to be a huuge chapter though. Don't get too hopeful at the state of Roo and Sirius's relationship yet, they still have a LOONG way to go. I just couldn't resist some good natured fluff. It may be a step forward, but there are always some steps back, so I hope you're in for the long haul! **


	7. Chapter Seven

**Okay, putting this chapter out a little early. Originally I had planned to start this chapter at the start of seventh year but I really wanted to address Sirius running away. This chapter is really long, but I didn't feel right breaking it up! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Usually the sound of an owl pecking at her window did not cause Ruby Zeller such distress. However for the last three days whenever she could see an owl on the horizon, Roo would jump up and anxiously tear into the parchment. Mostly though, the letters were a disappointment though. Leaping off her bed, she hurried to the window only to sigh loudly when she saw that it was Jude's owl.

"Jeeze Roo, you need to calm down." Lily Evans voice rang out in her room as Ruby tossed her brother's letter aside, letting his owl take refuge in a spare cage before she went on her way.

"Stuff it Evans, this is important." She muttered, shutting the window again and grumpily throwing herself back into her bed.

"You're obsessed. I thought that it wasn't like that with you and Black." The red head shrugged, her legs crossed underneath her.

"It's not." Roo rolled her eyes.

"So says the girl who was basically straddling him in the common room a few months ago." Lily countered, raising a thin eyebrow in her friend's direction. "And you kissed him, you told me that. So how is it 'not like that'?"

"Because it's not," She sighed loudly. "I will not rehash the story for you again, you know we didn't do anything. Like the common room would be a good place for a shag anyways. Honestly Evans," Ruby exasperated. "As for the whole kiss thing, the idiot acted like nothing ever happened. He was back after Meadowes in a week." She mumbled darkly.

Dorcas Meadowes something else entirely, a sort of something that Ruby didn't particularly like to discuss. She came from a long line of Pureblood Irish Chinese family and had known Sirius since they were kids. Roo didn't know her too well, but she seemed nice enough at first, Hufflepuffs usually were. That was until you got to close to Sirius, of course. Ruby didn't make a point to hang around the off and on again couple too much but when she did, she didn't like it.

Dorcas flaunted Sirius around like he was some kind of trophy that she won, like he was some special Pureblood prize to show off. Not to mention it seemed like she was always putting him down for a laugh, Sirius seemed to laugh it off but it didn't escape Ruby's eye when he turned extremely sour and moody afterwards. She didn't know how their relationship worked, maybe Dorcas was really nice when not around other people, but Ruby didn't really care. She didn't like how she treated him.

And she wouldn't whether she fancied him or not.

Sirius was first and foremost one of her closest friends. They had shared a lot of things over the years, fights, pranks, what have you, and while Ruby may have harbored a slight flame for him, it didn't take away from the fact that she thought he should be treated better.

Truth be told, Sirius Black was always something of an enigma. Not only was he handsome, but he had a great sense of humor and a heart of gold as cliché as it was to say. Despite growing up with a poor excuse of a family, he had turned out pretty well.

"It's got nothing to do with any of that Lils. I just know he's been going through some rough stuff with his family. He sent me this owl a couple days ago, and I've just been worried." Ruby shrugged, her eyes darting over to the window again as if Sirius's owl would magically be there.

"What's going on then?"

"Well, it's kind of private." Ruby answered, already cringing at how Lily would react to that. She never took being out of the loop very well.

"Like I would say anything to anyone! Who have I got to talk about Sirius Black? Hmm, I don't know, maybe just you?! You can't just say 'he's going through some things' and act like a lunatic whenever there's an owl nearby and NOT tell me!"

"Okay, okay, but you literally cannot say anything to him Lily Evans. I mean it. No matter how pathetic and sad he may look, you act like you know nothing!"

"I swear. I swear on Petunia's ugly wedding gown!" Lily retorted with a grin. Her older sister, who Ruby most certainly did not get along with, was getting married the next summer and was already in a whirlwind of wedding planning. It was driving Lily bratty, hence why she was taking up with the Zeller's for the rest of the holidays.

"She hasn't even gotten it yet," Roo snorted in a very unladylike fashion.

"But we both know it'll be hideous. To match Vernon and all," The serious moment of their friend's predicament was lost for a moment while the girls dissolved into a fit of giggles at thought of Vernon Dursley being stuffed into a tuxedo and not looking like a whale.

"Anyways," Ruby coughed trying to regain her composure. "Sirius is, or was having some trouble with his family. Real snobby, you know? They didn't like that he wasn't sorted into Slytherin. That he's mixing with blood traitors and muggle trash." She rolled her eyes. "He doesn't really talk about it, at least not to me, but I've gathered that much and based off what James has said, I put it together." She decided now probably wasn't the time to point out to her friend that she hardly grimaced at the mention of James Potter. "Anyways, every year I always tell him that he's welcome to come by for a visit. Like this house needs anymore boys, right? Plus, my dad would get a real kick out of him and hearing all about how Purebloods are."

Colin Zeller was a simple Muggle man who really should have been born a wizard. Now that his children were older, they indulged him in bits of magic. Plus he always got overly excited when someone arrived by floo.

"I know there's no way that Sirius would be allowed to drop by though. His mum wouldn't allow it, Zeller is a Muggle name. I can't even write him letters and sign my full name or she'd find out. They read his mail sometimes Lily, they aren't good people. I still offer though 'cause I think it makes him feel better knowing he has a place other than home to go." She spit out, feeling more anger at Sirius's family the more she thought about it. "Anyways, like three days ago, his owl shows up here and all it says 'Offer still stand?' with his initials. I think he was trying to leave, but I haven't heard from him since. I don't know if they shut him up in his room, or if he got out and is wandering around on the streets."

Lily was quiet for a few moments, taking all the information in. She had known that Sirius's family was a little fanatical, but never how bad it was for him. "Did you think maybe he had gone to James's? You know how close they are."

"Yeah, I would hope if he was at the Potter's though, he'd be considerate enough to let me know he's not dead or something." Lily snorted loudly, as if the idea of Sirius Black being considerate was unthinkable.

Ruby couldn't help but agree a little.

"Just write James and ask if he's there. Simple. Then you can go back to normal."

"Oh, so he's James now? Not Potter?" Roo teased, leaning over to her nightstand and grabbing a spare bit of paper.

"I was being kind because he's your friend." Reddening in the cheeks a bit, Lily took the opportunity to look thoughtfully out the window.

"Right." Rolling her eyes, Ruby turned back down to the paper and began scribbling a note to James.

_James,_

_At the risk of sounding like a crazy person, is Sirius with you right now? He sent me some BS cryptic owl a few days ago and I haven't heard from his since. Getting a bit worried. Unless he is there with you and couldn't even think of anyone but himself to pick up a quill and write back, the lousy no good mongrel._

_Hope your hols are good. Lily is staying with me for the next few days. Perhaps this might be the perfect time to introduce you to movies? Tell Sirius (if he's with you, hopefully) he's not invited until he begs for forgiveness. Let me know about the movies, yeah?_

_Roo_

"There." She declared, hopping up from the bed and advancing on Jude's owl. Cleo was always a twitchy thing and didn't like the twins too much but Amery's owl was already out on a delivery, most likely sending some letter to that pretty Hufflepuff girl he's been seeing. Cleo clicked her beak in her direction but stood relatively still while she fastened the note to her leg. "Take that to James Potter, please. Don't leave until he writes back; peck his eyes out if you have too."

Lily looked positively thrilled at that idea.

Although she probably wouldn't be too happy if she found that she was inviting James and company to their movie dates. Lily was a huge movie buff, and they always made a point to see at least one when they were together. Since meeting in their first year, the girls always spent some time with each other over the holidays. Ruby loved going to the Evans'. Lily didn't have a handful of annoying siblings, constantly running underfoot.

There was only Petunia, and torturing siblings was a lot easier when you only had one target. Growing up, Roo had her pick between Amery, Zane and Jude. She never picked on Naomi, not only because she was younger, but sisters had to band together. Usually the boys tried to gang up on them, but with Naomi's brains (she was only 13, but she was smart) and Ruby's ability to execute, they usually came out the victors.

The only bad thing about visiting Lily (besides her horrible horse faced sister), was that Snape was always nearby. Before the end of 5th year, when Roo would spend a week with her friend, Severus usually tagged alone. Lily justified it by saying she spent all year with the Gryffindors, so the summer was for the little git. But after what was now referred to as the 'incident' by Lily, Ruby was happy that Snape was only involved from afar. Although she did think it was impossibly creepy that he tried to ambush her at home all the time.

When she could, Lily would always try to convince Ruby to let her stay with her family. Lily loved her parents and despite all appearances loved Tuney too. But staying with the Zeller's was like being a part of one big crazy family where no one resented each other over their magical ability. Plus now that Jude was older, Lily liked to grill him about life outside of Hogwarts.

There was a knock at her door, and Naomi's little blonde head peeked through the doorway. She was still a slip of a thing, mirroring her sister in size, but she wasn't quite as skittish as she once was. Naomi was usually much more at ease at home, and she adored Lily, so she entered with more confidence then usual.

"Hogwarts owls are here, and mum wants to hem your robes Roo." She smiled brightly at her sister and her friend. "Lily, your owl came here too!"

"Just school owls?" Ruby rolled off her bed rather ungracefully, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Yep, nothing from Sirius." Naomi gave her a sympathetic pat. Although the Marauders were not the type of boys she'd hang out with, she knew Ruby cared for them a great deal.

"Ugh!" Roo snatched her black robes off her dresser, pulling Lily out of the room with her. "Thanks Naomi." She ruffled her sister's hair. 

* * *

"Either Malkin is making these robes longer every year or you are shrinking." Orla Zeller tutted, as she waved her wand at the tape measurers flitting around her oldest daughter.

"Probably shrinking, Ma, you both are." Zane piped up from the end of the kitchen table, snickering at Roo as she shook the long sleeves back off her arms. She waited until her mother's back was turned to flip him off which just caused Zane to laugh loudly, sending bread crumbs flying from his mouth.

"You're disgusting." Ruby wrinkled her nose at him, as Lily and Naomi sat back and laughed.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you were Zane. You're probably done growing as it is!" Mrs. Zeller countered slyly, as she started to pin back Ruby's sleeves. The Zeller's as a whole were not tall people, Jude was the only one who had gotten a growth spurt and was a decent height. Amery really got the short end of the stick, quite literally only being an inch or two taller than Ruby. "Lily dear, you haven't opened your letter. Go on!" She encouraged, watching Lily trace the Hogwarts crest stamped on the outside.

"She's just nervous that her Head Girl badge won't be in there." Ruby snorted, which turned into a cry of pain as her mother jabbed her with a pin. "Oi, watch my delicate skin woman!"

"Sorry love, it was an accident." The gleam in her mother's eyes said it was anything but and if she wanted to make another smart comment about Lily, she'd suffer another jab.

Without waiting any longer, Lily tore into her envelope shifting all the required reading aside, gleefully holding up her new Head Girl badge. She let out a triumphant whoop which the other Zeller's joined in on.

"Great job Lily." Mr. Zeller patted her on her shoulder as he moved past her, drooping to kiss Orla's cheek. "Weren't you Head Girl in your days, love?"

Mrs. Zeller nodded her head enthusiastically; too many pins pursed between her lips to properly answer, but still took the moment to preen. It seemed that only Naomi had inherited their mother's as the rest of her children were hell bent on being trouble makers.

"Oh my god." Although it was a horrified sort of whisper, everyone's head turned back to Lily, her eyes wide as they devoured the letter in front of her. "James Potter is Head Boy." Her tone once victorious took on a more miserable tone as Ruby began to laugh almost maniacally.

Before she could start on teasing her friend, there was a resounding smack and Roo practically threw herself off the stool to throw open the window for James' poor owl which took a face plant into glass.

_Roo,_

_Did Evans read her owl from Hogwarts yet? Of course she did. You must already know then that I am Head Boy this year. I'm not sure what gillyweed Dumbledore is smoking to make me a Head, but I have the badge to prove it. How thrilled was my Lily flower to find out that we'd be working closely together this year? This might really be my year Roo! I've been trying to be on my best behavior since the thing with Snape, and maybe this will really prove to Lily how I feel about her!_

_Oh and yeah, Sirius is here with me. Showed up a three nights ago. He's been kind of out of it, don't be too mad at him for not writing. It's been bad for him. Don't think he's going back, probably blasted off by now. Maybe those movie things will cheer him up. How about tonight, around 7? We'll come by floo, know how your dad likes that. And I can talk Head Boy strategies with Evans (do Heads have strategies? I imagine it to be a bit like Quidditch really). Maybe you can cheer up Padfoot, been right miserable._

_Cheers!_  
_James_

Ignoring her mother's cry of protest, Ruby pulled her robes over her head and tossed them on the table. Lily regarded her with a cool look, knowing that the recovering owl was James. "What does Potter want?" She asked in a cool voice, all notes of excitement from earlier gone. She was so melodramatic.

"Just that he's looking forward to working with such a lovely young woman and hopes to learn a lot from you." Ruby answered, quickly shoving the letter down the front of her shirt before Lily could try to snatch it. She would throw a fit if she knew James was calling her Lily Flower again. "More importantly, Sirius IS with him, and is okay. Just moody and probably never going back." Roo paused there knowing what she was going to say would send Lily over the top. "I sort of figured Sirius might be down in the dumps, running away from home and all. Plus Remus is on holidays and Peter is stuck with his sick grandfather. So I kind of invited them to the movies with us? They've never seen on before, you know." She added that on quickly as if that would save her from her friend's wrath.

Lily didn't say anything for a long moment, obviously contemplating her next move. "One of them better buy my popcorn then if I'm going to have to explain everything to them." She sniffed but obviously conceding knowing how important Sirius really was to Ruby. She'd swallow her blind hatred for James, if only for her best friend.

"I love you Lily Marie Evans." Ruby grinned widely before turning back to her parents. Her mother was eying her pile of robes with great distaste but her dad looked positively thrilled at the aspect of more wizards coming into his house. "The boys will floo in around seven." Mrs. Zeller scoffed, piling her daughter's forgotten robes in her arms but Roo knew her enough that she was already planning dinner for a big group.

"As long as it's okay with James' parents." 

* * *

Although she would sooner die than admit it, Lily did spend an inordinate amount of time on her hair and make up. It wasn't for Potter, maybe she'd meet a better looking boy at the movies. One had to be prepared for anything. She had chosen her nicest blouse to wear, it was cream colored and set very nicely against her hair.

It wasn't as though she fancied Potter, although he had gotten considerably better over the last year, but Lily didn't want to go out looking like a slob. At least that's what she told herself as she lightly dusted blush over her cheeks. She stole a glance at Ruby who was wearing a plain black t-shirt (which was too big judging by the way it kept falling off her shoulder) and a pair of tattered jeans. She only wore mascara but still sat beside Lily, giving make up tips where she felt fit.

"Don't you want to dress up more?" Lily questioned after putting her brush down. "You know since Sirius will be there?" She added on at Roo's question look.

She just snorted very loudly, hopping off the vanity's table top. "Is that why you were so concerned about the proper shade of blush? For Sirius? Or maybe James? Like either one of them would even notice that you're using a pale pink instead of powder pink." Roo shot her friend a wicked grin as Lily retaliated by throwing a discarded make up brush in her direction. "Ruby Zeller dresses up for no one! Sirius has girls throwing themselves at his feet all the time, I'm not gonna join the masses. Never mind that one time I wore a dress to Hogsmeade and he went on about it for weeks." She rolled her eyes. "As far as Sirius Black is concerned, I'm not even likely a girl."

"Well that's certainly depressing."

Before Ruby could comment, there was a loud commotion downstairs (Ruby swore she heard the distinct sound of her father clapping) which meant that Sirius and James had arrived.

"Better comb your hair Evans, lover boy is here!" Ruby taunted, darting around Lily as she tried to make a grab for her. Laughing, she bolted down the steps, past Zane and leaping on James Potter. "Such gentlemen, showing up early!"

"Good to see you too Roo," James laughed, hugging her back and twirling her around in a circle for a moment.

"She'll be down in a minute." Ruby rolled her eyes as James looked up hopefully at the stairs. She turned to Sirius who offered her a smile, one that looked considerably sadder than his usual. Wasting no time, she dropped James and moved over to Sirius and threw her arms around his neck. "Everything okay?" Roo questioned quietly, making sure to give him an extra hard squeeze.

"I'll be fine." Sirius nodded, before discreetly pressing his lips to her temple. Ruby held on for a moment longer, before releasing him and elbowing him playfully in the ribs.

"Next time you owl me back yourself, you git."

Sirius said nothing but smirked back at her, one that looked a little less sad. A moment later, Lily emerged from the stairs, looking regal and flawless as usual.

"Potter, Black." She regarded the boys coolly, although Ruby saw her eyes dart back to James a few times. He must have been used to seeing Lily exclusively in school robes because at the moment it looked like he had died and seen the face of a goddess.

Both Ruby and Sirius rolled their eyes at the antics of their friends. They were both maddening.

"Dad, no one else is coming through." Having turned away from her friends, Ruby now eyed her father who was still on all fours inspecting the fire place.

"Can never be too sure Ruby." Colin grinned, before bouncing back up and brushing off his pant legs. "You lot behave now, I don't want a visit from the police officers again." At this, Mr. Zeller fixed his daughter with a pointed look which she promptly looked away from.

"If we leave now, we'll have time to get popcorn before." Ruby said after hugging her dad and ducking out from under his gaze. "We're gonna see Carrie."

Originally they had wanted to see Taxi Driver, but they thought they'd spend the whole movie trying to explain every detail to Sirius and James. At least with Carrie, they'd have some understanding with a magical aspect. Lily had been disappointed by the change.

When Roo had first met Lily, she was surprised to find her friend had such a passion for action movies. Lily was the kind of girl who read Jane Austen between classes, who helped Willow stitch dresses together out of silk and lace. However, Mr. Evans was a movie buff like his daughter and while he tolerated the classic animations and cartoons for his daughters, he loved the nitty gritty the most.

It seemed Lily developed that same love too because she was not happy at all they weren't seeing Robert De Niro.

The theater was only a few blocks from the Zeller's home so they had decided to walk. Plus Orla wouldn't let her daughter take the car for anything. Ruby didn't live in a bad neighborhood, necessarily but it was run down. Living on a journalist's and a seamstress's salary between five kids tended to stretch the paychecks a bit. But it was still a relatively nice area for their means.

Heeding final warnings to behave themselves, the teens filed out of the door and out onto the road. Lily was sure to keep some distance between her and James. He didn't look too phased by it really, but held a panicked look on his face as he pulled Ruby to the side.

"Roo, I really wanna pay for Lily, gentlemanly and all," He started in a hushed whisper as Sirius looked on the pair with an amused grin and eye roll. "But I don't have any muggle money!"

Stifling a laugh that would have no doubt made Lily even more suspicious than she already was, Ruby rooted around in her pockets pulling out crumbled bills. "Here James, just offer to pay for everyone. You can pay me back later." She passed the bills to James who looked at them as if a couple notes were the key to Lily Evans heart.

"Hey Lily, stop walking so fast. You need to tell me how movies work!" James stuffed the money into his pocket before picking up his pace to catch up with Lily who looked properly annoyed.

"You'd think all the times she's turned him down, he'd move on." Roo couldn't help but laugh at James's attempts to slide his arms around Lily's shoulders, watching as she batted him away.

"Nah, not in his nature." Sirius answered with a grin. "How's the summer with the harpy been?"

It wasn't that Sirius disliked Lily, he just didn't get why his friend kept chasing after a girl who was not interested, although it did seem as if the red head had cooled against him slightly. Lily wasn't really his type anyway, but he could see how she would appeal to James. But as loyal as Sirius was, he didn't like some of the stuff that Lily said about his friends.

Ruby gave him a hard look before answering. "She's been fine. I think she fancies James." Her voice carried a hint of glee, watching as Lily threw her arms in the air and reluctantly let James drop his around her shoulder. "How have YOU been?"

"I'm fine, Roo." Sirius's answer was short. She knew he didn't like people prying into his family stuff. But she also wasn't going to let one of her best friends wallow in misery and self deprecation because his family were a bunch of ignorant purists who tried to stuff their son in a role he didn't belong.

"Obviously you aren't. James said you left home. For good?" Ruby pressed, knowing that she was skating on very thin ice. But it wasn't in HER nature to let things go, she was a self professed busy body. She'd rather have Sirius explode on her than go off for the rest of the summer, hell the rest of his life, bottling up his feelings because he thought it was better.

"Don't Ruby. Just don't." Sirius spit out through gritted teeth, his hands clenched at his sides. "You don't know what it's like, and you can't pretend to understand either."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes, letting the sound of James and Lily's bickering wash over them.

"You're right, I don't know. But I know you, and that's enough. I know you hate your parents but you can't feel good about leaving Regulus behind no matter how much you disagree with them. I know you wouldn't have left unless they really crossed the line because no matter how much your brother says he hates you, you still love him and don't want him to be alone. But you're just gonna pretend that you never cared and everything is fine, when it isn't." Ruby answered in a quiet voice, unusually serious.

Sirius never told her much about her family but she had encountered him enough times with his brother Regulus to make an honest guess. There was the time she came across the pair shouting at each other in an abandoned corridor during their fourth year, Sirius screaming at his brother that their parents were wrong, that they did more damage than good. She quickly hurried away, hoping Sirius hadn't seen her. She didn't know if he did because he never brought it up.

Ruby knew Sirius Black and she knew there was no way someone like him would ever be okay leaving ANYONE in that house. Sirius said nothing, but continued to stare straight ahead, clenching his fists tightly at his sides.

"I just don't like seeing you upset Sirius." She placed a small hand on his forearm, fixing him with a sad smile before hurrying along to catch up with Lily and James.

He didn't say anything, just kept staring in front of him keeping the three of them in his sights as he followed. The urge to change into Padfoot was overwhelming, to become a dog and just run away again. James would understand, he always did, but Ruby wouldn't. Instead he swallowed his anger, the best way he could at least and started jogging to catch up with them. 

* * *

"So wait, that wasn't REAL?" James voice cut through the crowd, apparently outraged that Carrie was not a true story.

"No James, the people were just acting. It's fake." Roo rolled her eyes, neither him nor Sirius seemed to be able to wrap their heads around it.

"But how did she do all that stuff then?" James insisted.

"It's a movie, they have special effects." Lily exasperated, but Ruby noticed with a grin that she still hadn't shaken off James's arm.

Before James could comment again, a loud bang rang out nearby. Their heads snapped around, and their eyes widened on sight. Red jets of light were shooting every direction in the middle of the town. It didn't take long for the screams to start up soon after.

Ruby took off before anyone could stop her, running as fast as her body could carry her to the thick of the action. Since turning seventeen in May, Ruby carried her wand everywhere with her now, pulling it from the inside of her jacket as she ran.

Lily, James and Sirius all shared a look with each other and without another word, they tore after Ruby. It didn't take them long to reach the center of panic, a small group of masked wizards with various colors of light shooting from their wands towards the muggles on the street. With no hesitation in her voice, Ruby shot a disarming spell at a Death Eater who was raising his wand towards a young mother and her toddler. She didn't hit him, but it was enough to divert his attention away from the woman so she could run.

As the Death Eater turned to face her, Roo knew in the pit of her heart that she should have run home, tried to alert the ministry instead of trying to take on a group of Voldemort's supporters with just her and a few friends. But fear had gripped her heart as soon as she saw those lights. All she could think of was Death Eaters marching to her house where her underage siblings played board games, where her defenseless muggle father napped with a newspaper on his chest. And Ruby knew that she would do whatever she could to keep them away.

Luckily, they all had been regulars at dueling clubs and knew how to defend themselves. It helped that Jude, who was now an auror for the ministry had taught his younger siblings some defensive maneuvers once they turned seventeen.

Before the Death Eater could so much as begin to think what curse to send Roo's way, he was knocked over by a powerful spell Sirius aimed at him. Shaking herself, Ruby was one the move again, shooting protective spells where she could, and trying to remember every single hex she ever learned. One Death Eater fell to his knees after being hit full force by an entrails expelling hex as she danced on her toes to avoid being hit.

The four of them circled the group of Death Eaters, trying in vain to hit them with whatever they could think of but they just barely managed to dodge their own spells being rebound at them. Ruby darted around, never stopping for more than a second to avoid being hit, but kept her friends in her sight. James protectively stood in front of Lily no matter where they moved, the pair of them alternatively shooting spells into the group. Sirius was across the street, wearing a fierce mask of hatred as he roared curse after curse.

Ruby was so concerned with her friends (James had been hit in the face by something and was now covering his nose as he brandished his wand), she didn't see the burly Death Eater take aim for her, and she certainly didn't have time to jump out of the way.

It felt like someone was pressing hot knives into every inch of her skin, like every one of her bones were being snapped over and over. She didn't feel herself screaming but Ruby knew she did as she fell to the hard ground. Her eyes watered as she watched Sirius struggling to make his way to her. God, she just wanted it to stop, it would be better to just kill her.

Eventually the pain stopped and all she could hear was the sound of her own terrified screams. Before she could process what was happening, Ruby was scooped up into a pair of strong arms. She could feel herself trembling, her entire body was aching. She heard voices all around her and all she wanted to do was to scream that there were Death Eaters and someone had to get them.

Vaguely aware that she was crying, Ruby was surprised to feel warm blood dripping onto her face. She glanced up to James Potter's face, with his broken nose flowing blood down his face and was relieved to see at least one of her friends was safe. Her throat hurt too much to ask about Lily and Sirius but the look on her face must have made sense to James.

"Everyone is okay. Aurors are here, we're going back to your parents. You're okay Roo." His voice had a lisp to it, but he spoke in a determined tone that immediately put Ruby at ease. 

* * *

When Ruby woke up, her entire body still ached, her head pounded but she recognized the familiar scent of her home, and was warm under a large duvet. She tried to raise herself into a sitting position but let out a sharp cry of pain when she moved.

"I got you Roo, just hold on a second." Lily's voice didn't sound as delicate as usual, it was hoarse as she bent over her friend, gingerly helping her to lean against the bedframe. The red head looked a little worse for wear, with a dark bruise forming around her eye, and dried blood on her cheek. She handed Ruby a glass of water, which she gratefully drank quenching her dry throat.

"What's going on?" Ruby choked out after finishing off the glass.

"You've been out for a little bit, aurors showed up. Jude was coming to visit and saw everything and called the ministry. Sirius and James are downstairs talking to them now. I wanted to stay with you." Lily grasped her hand tightly as tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. "You're supposed to take this, it'll help. You got hit by a Cruciatus curse. They said you'll be sore for a while." She squeezed Ruby's hand one more time, before standing and grabbing an orange looking potion off the side table.

"Good thing you want to be a healer Lils, you have a good bed side manner." Ruby said, with as big of a smile as she could manage without it hurting her face. A tight smile formed on Lily's mouth as she uncorked a bottle and held it to Roo's mouth, tipping the vial back.

"I'm going to let your parents know you're okay. I have to talk to the aurors, and Dumbledore. Someone will be right up, okay?" Lily desperately looked like she wanted to hug her, but was too afraid that it would hurt her. Ruby reached out for her friend, not caring about the intense burning in her shoulders.

"I'm glad you're okay Lily." Roo said softly while she cried quietly against her shoulder.

"Me too." Lily held her on for a little longer before letting her go and settling Ruby back into bed. "Don't you dare get up, you are on strict bed rest." That was more like the Lily Evans she knew.

She was alone in her room for maybe ten minutes before the door opened again and Sirius poked his head in. He looked considerably better than Lily, but Ruby just figured was that he had time to see a healer before coming to see her.

"Hey Pads." Ruby offered him a small smile, knowing that he hated it when she called him that. Padfoot was strictly a Marauder's only name.

"Hey Roo," He barely smiled, moving to her bedside and taking her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. I'd shrug at you, but it hurts." She answered good naturedly, even though Sirius looked far from amused. "Where is everyone?"

"James and Lily are still talking your brother and some other aurors. Dumbledore showed up right after. He's drinking tea with your mum and dad. Amery and Naomi had to take some sleeping potions, they were a little hysterical. Amery nearly attacked a full ministry of aurors because they wouldn't let him see you. I think Zane is staying with Naomi to make sure she's okay."

Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach, she knew how much Naomi hated taking sleeping potions after encountered a bad patch when she was younger. Sirius must have noticed the look of distress on Ruby's face since he squeezed her hand tighter. "They'll be okay Roo, they were just worried about you. Once they see you're okay, they'll be fine." He reassured, sliding off the chair and in the bed next to her. Lightly he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her close to him.

They sat like that in silence for a few minutes, while tears rolled down her cheeks onto his shirt. "I don't feel bad about doing it though, you know." Ruby's voice was hard when she spoke again. She didn't like that she lead her friends to getting hurt, didn't like that her family was upset because of her. But Ruby didn't regret running into the center of town, not even when she incurred the anger of a Death Eater for helping a woman escape. It deterred the Death Eaters from going any further, her house wasn't that far away from where they were at. It was bad enough that they were torturing innocent Muggles before the group of showed up to distract them.

"You're so stupid," Sirius murmured against her hair, careful not to lean too hard on her.

"You followed me."

"I'd do it again."

"I know."

* * *

**Whew, there you have it. Hope you guys made it through this massive chapter. Like I said earlier, I couldn't find a good place to break it up into two chapters, and plus I really wanted to start chapter eight at Hogwarts already. This chapter kind of took a life of it's own. When I started to write it, it was originally supposed to address Sirius running away and melt into some Jily fluff. Obviously, that didn't happen! But I wanted to show the affects of the war before they entered the safety of Hogwarts. Plus this will hopefully lead way into an arc involving Mary and Mulciber! I'm having a bit of writers block with chapter eight, but hopefully it'll be out on time next week. Please let you know what you think, reviews mean the world to me!**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Whew, sorry about the delay on this chapter. This is marks the first chapter where we were will be working on a consist timeline rather than year hopping. More about this at the end though. I don't own anything except the OCs! Enjoy! **

* * *

"Peter, stop hogging all the potatoes!"

"You already had some!"

"So did you! You're on your third plate, time to share!"

The Gryffindor table was usually the loudest at the sorting ceremony and the fact that it was the Marauders and companies last year at Hogwarts, they weren't holding back for anything. A squabble broke out between Peter and Amery over the biggest bowl of mashed potatoes while James argued Quidditch strategies with a fifth year boy named Robins.

Lily and Mary talked animatedly about their summers, Mary and her twin sister Maggie had spent the holidays in France, somewhere Lily had always wanted to visit. Sirius and Ruby sat beside each other, each exceptionally quiet given the occasion. Even Remus, who was notoriously the most mild mannered Gryffindor to exist, was talking more than the two of them.

Sirius sat facing the Slytherin table, his handsome face marred by a dark glare. Regulus Black determinedly avoided eye contact with brother, making a point to chat with Severus Snape, knowing how much his brother hated him. Sirius had been okay during the summer, only occasionally withdrawing from his friends after running away from home. But now that he was back in school, and his brother who acted like he didn't exist was only a few feet away, it was hard to put on the trademark Padfoot grin.

Although she had physically recovered from the Death Eater ambush, Ruby was still unnaturally quiet. She had bounced back to normal in a few weeks, after spending those weeks with Jude who helped her work on defensive magic. She staunchly refused to talk to anyone about what happened, besides her older brother. She felt bad shutting Amery out like that, they always shared everything. But what happened was too much for her to discuss with him. He had been distraught the following weeks, obsessively shadowing his sister. Ruby couldn't take it any longer and vowed she wouldn't worry her family anymore with the mess that was going on in her head. She had been fine on the train ride to Hogwarts but had quieted considerably during the open ceremony.

Loren Wilkes openly stared at the Gryffindor table, clenching his jaw. His father had been the only Death Eater caught from their summer escapade and was currently sitting in Azkaban. Ruby couldn't take credit for his capture though, that was all James. It had been James to knock him out in order to get to her while she writhed on the ground curtsey of his Cruciatus.

Noticing that Ruby was staring off towards the Slytherin table, Lily shifted in her seat effectively blocking Wilkes' line of sight. "Roo, you still thinking about changing your hair?" She gestured to her friend's head full of her signature vibrant red hair.

It took her a moment but she snapped out of her thoughts and grinned. "Yeah, I had to wait until we got here, mum would murder me. McGonagall will have a fit, but at least I'll escape murder." Now that she wasn't fixated on Wilkes, Ruby smiled easily.

"No time like the present!" James butted in, nudging Sirius in the ribs. He jumped slightly but turned away from his brother promising himself that he'd corner him later. He could talk some sense into him, it was his last chance. He could convince Regulus to leave. It was a matter of making him understand. The entire Black family with an exception of few, were poisonous and all Sirius wanted was to save his little brother from that fate.

"Wait, what?" Sirius questioned, his thoughts had been clouded with hypothetical conversations with Regulus, he had not paid any attention to what his friends were saying.

"Ruby is gonna ditch the red for a while." Mary piped in, blowing her own dark hair from her eyes. She recently had cut off her long dark hair, rocking a chic bob that cut off at her chin.

Sirius raised an eyebrow in her direction but said nothing. At this point, he couldn't imagine Ruby with anything but red hair. Although it had been completely accidental, he had been the one who turned her dish water blonde hair red, and she had kept that color ever since. There had been subtle changes over the years, but it always remained red.

Before Sirius could question what ridiculous thing Roo planned on doing with her hair now, he felt her tense up beside him. Usually Ruby Zeller was not the kind of person to back down, or bow out of situations. Other students were frequently annoyed with her ability to make something out of nothing. There wasn't a time that Ruby would let a Slytherin give her the side eye. Her thinking had always been to get them first.

Sirius glanced up from the table to see Wilkes now pushing himself up from the Slytherin table and stalking towards them. As far as he was concerned, the entire Wilkes family was not worth much of anything. Even by Pureblood standards, they were one of the less prominent families who desperately tried to hide the fact that their family was riddled with muggles, mudbloods and squibs. It was a long time coming that Loren's father was thrown into Azkaban. He made no attempt to hide his affiliation with Voldemort, no one was surprised to find out that it had been Loren Wilkes Sr. caught torturing students in a muggle town.

None too discreetly, Sirius pulled his wand from the pocket of his robes and gripped it tightly. Remus caught notice the fastest and mirrored his friend's movements, the rest of the seventh year Gryffindor's following in suit. Ruby was the only one who had yet to move, seemingly frozen in place. Her face had drained of color and Sirius could see her fingernails digging into her palms. He wanted to tell her that she squeezed any harder, she'd break skin.

He had never seen her react that way to well; anything and it unnerved him to say the least. He watched as Wilkes slid past the Gryffindor table, waiting for him to linger more than a second so he could blast that smug smile off his face. He just moved past, making sure to shoot Roo a self satisfied smirk before leaving the Great Hall with the rest of his slime ball friends.

Loosening his grip on his wand, Sirius reached under the table, gently touching Ruby's clenched fist. She jumped at the contact, instantly going red in the face.

"I'm really tired, I'm going to bed." Ruby mumbled, as she hastily pushed herself away from the table and scrambling away. Both Sirius and Amery made a move to follow her but remained seated after Mary stood.

"I'll talk to her." The tone in her voice left no room for discussion. Without saying so, they all knew what she meant. No one else understood what it was like to have an unforgivable curse used on them. Although it hadn't been the Cruciatus, the Imperius and the after math had been extremely traumatizing for Mary. No one outside their circle of friends knew that she still went to Mungo's to seek therapy and sometimes had to take potions to help sleep and quell her anxiety.

Sirius tried hard not to be resentful towards Mary as she followed after Ruby. He knew that she would be the best one to talk to her, but he still felt a strong pull to chase after her himself. He didn't know what to make out of the strange stirring in his chest when he thought about Roo being upset, but Sirius knew he wanted to be the one who comforted her. He glanced over at Amery, who wore a similar mask of dejection. Ruby hadn't been talking to him, not about what happened, Amery had told him that much.

"She'll be fine. Mary understands." Sirius offered to him, not only trying to make Amery feel better but himself.

"Yeah," Amery only muttered a dark look on his face as he stabbed the chicken on his plate.

"Hey Sirius," Dorcas's voice rang through the air like a bell. Normally he'd welcome the distraction; the slender Hufflepuff would have been a fine way to take his mind off things, off seeing Regulus, off of Ruby.

"Not now Dor." Sirius shook his head, looking up to the fire that was bound to be in Dorcas's eyes. Sure enough, her hazel eyes were light up and her mouth set in a firm line. Although she wasn't really the jealous type, not after how many times they had broken up for Sirius to pursue someone else, Ruby had always been a sore spot with her.

Honestly, it wasn't until last year that Sirius had started to feel a little more than brotherly love towards his classmate. Even still, he wasn't comfortable pushing up on Ruby like that. He knew how he was in relationships, he got bored. He didn't want to ruin such a good and easy friendship with something as complicated and potentially hurtful as dating.

"Seriously, not now." Sirius cut her off as she opened her mouth but firmly clamped it shut. Dorcas chose to say nothing, which surprised Sirius more than anything. She was hardly the type of person to hold her tongue. They got into rows often because of her inability to just shut up for once. She gave him one last scathing look before stomping away back to the Hufflepuff table.

"I'm going to bed too." He mumbled, stuffing his wand into his robes and hurrying out of the Great Hall. Maybe he could catch up with Mary.

* * *

It wasn't the girl's dorms that Mary eventually found Ruby, her knees pulled up her chest, and red eyes that shown she had obviously been crying. No, Mary found Roo sitting on the floor of the first floor bathroom, which ironically had been the very place where she had encountered her own unforgivable curse.

"Hey Roo," Mary said softly, sliding down the wall next to her friend, gingerly slipping an arm around her shoulders.

"I threw up." Ruby answered, her voice hoarse and weak. More tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, as she rocked back and forth slightly trying her best to keep on an even keel.

"I still do sometimes too," Mary rubbed comforting circles into her back. She never directly talked to her friends about what happened, about what Mulciber did and tried to do, never spoke about how it still affected her. She still didn't want to talk about it, not really. But she saw a friend, someone she loved in very much in a bad place that Mary had frequented one too many times before. "Sometimes I see him in the corridors, you know? It takes every bit of me not to toss up my lunch. It takes me a minute when I see him. I just freeze up and for a few seconds I'm back in the bathroom and he's standing over me again. Eventually I snap out of it, but for a few minutes, he takes over again. I dream about it too, but in dreams you can't run away like in real life."

Ruby didn't say anything while her friend talked, just clutched onto her tightly thinking about her own dreams. She didn't know what her attacker had looked like; her parents had kept the prophet from their home after he had been arrested. But she imagined he looked similar to his son, dark brown hair with sharp blue eyes that cut through her. She dreamed of Death Eater masks, red hot knives that broke skin, what it felt like to have her bones broken over and over again.

At least Loren Wilkes Sr. was in Azkaban; Damian Mulciber was still at Hogwarts. Still free to terrorize other people, Mary included. Suddenly Ruby didn't feel so bad for herself, but it was replaced with an intense hatred for Mulciber.

"I know it's hard Roo, and I'm not saying all this stuff just to make you feel better. You're not alone." Mary's voice suddenly lost the detachment she had fought so hard to keep and was thick with emotion.

"Thank you Mary." Ruby's voice was muffled as she threw her arms around her friend. The girls sat like that for a while, until the sounds of giggling second years entering the bathroom broke them apart.

"C'mon. We better get back up to the commons before people start rumors about us." Ruby quipped with a soft smile on her face. She swiped away her errant tears and pushed herself off the ground, offering a hand to her friend.

"Let 'em talk. They're just jealous they couldn't land two fine ladies like us on their best days."

"Very true, you look like you belong on a fashion magazine with that hair cut." Ruby pushed open the stall door, ignoring the increased giggles of a bunch of twelve year old girls.

"Thanks," Mary's cheek turned bright red at the compliment as she beamed. "No one will be talking about me once you color your hair. Are you seriously going to try pink? Everyone will think Sirius hexed you again!" Her laughter bounced off the corridor walls, as they started their trek to the Gryffindor common room.

"Maybe then McGonagall won't kill me." Ruby answered with a grin. Although she loved her red hair, loved it more than she ever liked her natural color, she liked to experiment. She spent the first half of summer holidays entertaining Naomi by trying out ridiculous hair colors. Although most of them turned out horribly (namely the booger green she had attempted), a bright bubble gum pink had suited her. Naomi and herself both rocked the color for the remainder of the day until Orla had come home and nearly died on the spot. None of her daughters would be walking around with pink hair on her watch.

That's why Ruby had decided to wait until Hogwarts to try it out again.

"Better not let Dorcas think Sirius is messing around with you or your hair, she'll have a meltdown." Mary rolled her eyes. Although she was generally friendly and got along with most people, Mary Macdonald and Dorcas Meadowes were not friends by any stretch of the word. Once Dorcas had made an off color remark about Maggie without realizing Mary had been in ear shot. Ever since then, Mary was not a fan. She even encouraged Ruby to aim for her during Quidditch matches.

"Pft, Dorcas can stuff it!"

* * *

There was a hopeless sort of pathetic look on Padfoot's face as he watched Ruby and Mary ascend to the girls room, arm in arm.

"And you call me pathetic." James snorted in his friend's direction, watching as his chess piece overtook one of Remus's.

"I told you not to move that there," Peter chimed in, watching as Remus's piece was dragged off the board. Peter was their resident Wizarding chess expert; he was so good that people refused point blank to play him anymore to avoid the embarrassment. He usually settled on giving snarky advice from the comfort of a plush chair instead.

"Piss off Wormtail," Remus muttered, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration trying to map out his next move.

"What are you on about Prongs?" Sirius finally dragged his eyes away from the girls stairway, giving up hope that Ruby would come bounding back down.

"You're staring at Roo like a lost puppy trying to follow his master." James retorted, a sly smirk on his face, and not just because he was whooping Remus's arse at chess. He always had a feeling about Ruby and Sirius, but kept it to himself. Padfoot had the tendency to overreact a bit when you called him out on his feelings. It was easily one of the most annoying things about him. Although he had yet to succeed to win Lily Evans over completely, he was still a one woman kind of man and he didn't understand why Sirius spent all his time chasing after Dorcas when it was clear that it wasn't Meadowes he wanted to be with. Sirius didn't know, but the rest of the Marauders had a working bet when he would finally bit the bullet so to say and just ask Roo out.

James thought he lost last year when he found them on the couch together. Peter however, had been overjoyed thinking that he had won the bet and was a disgruntled troll the rest of the week when nothing came of it.

He knew Sirius, probably more so than any of the other Marauders. They were all close, but he and Sirius shared a bond that alarmed even his own parents. Knowing Sirius so well, meant he knew that nothing would come of him and Ruby until he completely wrapped his head around his feelings which, being completely stunted when it came to emotions, James knew could take a while.

"I was not." Sirius insisted, shoving James's in the shoulder. He risked a cautionary glance over at Amery who stared moodily into the fire. Although they got along very well, knowing the mood Zeller was in, it was probably not best to be making cracks about his sister. He may not have cared, or at least acted cool about it last year after he was caught sharing a sleeping space with Ruby, but Sirius knew that Amery was deathly serious about keeping an eye out on Roo. Especially after what happened over the summer.

After the couch incident, Amery had gone out of his way to talk to Sirius. Even if Sirius was in denial about his feelings, he knew Ruby wasn't. She may not be open to the object of her affection about it, but she certainly didn't try to sugar coat it to Amery. Sirius didn't appreciate the over protective brother routine but he understood and went out of his way to avoid being in a similar situation again.

In his own head, where no one else could pry into his thoughts, Sirius could easily admit to having feelings, what feelings he didn't know, but feelings none the less for Ruby. Did it mean he wanted to date her? Did it mean he wanted to commit to someone he really cared about? Not to say he didn't care about Dorcas, because he did, he had known her for such a long time, but it was different. It wasn't like with Roo. Ruby, he could talk too, Ruby who never pushed him, not really anyways and always backed off when he made it clear. Outside the Marauders, he could say with confidence that she was one of his best friends.

He wasn't prepared to lose that.

"Right, whatever you say mate. It's just like saying Remus doesn't have poorly behaved rabbit that he has to tend to once a month," James carefully dodged the chess piece Remus aimed for his face. He wasn't a chaser for nothing. "Null and void, right?" He shot his friend a cheeky grin.

"Merlin, you are bloody infuriating." Sirius shook his head, pushing himself up from the couch. "I'm leaving before you say anything else thick." He rolled his eyes heavily as James's ridiculous cackling, and made a beeline for the boy's dorms. He paused briefly beside Amery, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much mate, she'll come around. If she doesn't, I know how to get up into the girl's dorms." He offered the boy a weak smile, knowing how it felt to want to reach out to a sibling who was determined to ignore you.

"Thanks mate." Amery responded quietly before snapping the book in his lap shut. "Think I'll head to bed too."

As the two boys trudged up the stairs together, a voice that sounded suspiciously like James rang out from the common room.

"Great job Padfoot, can't get the one twin, so you go after the other!"

* * *

**So I hit majooor writers block with this one. I'm still not completely happy with it (the ending in particular) but I wanted to get something up. I wanted to end on a happier note since this chapter was a little heavy with Ruby and Mary. But my brain kept taking a turn for the depressing. Another reason this has taken so long, I started to write up a character sheet for nearly every character that will be featured in this story so that was consuming my time for a bit. I'm working on a timeline because pacing is my biggest problem with writing and I don't want this story to drag. I have a question for everyone reading and would love some feed back on it! A lot of my ideas for this story right now are actually things that happen post graduation, and I'm currently drumming up some things to happen during their seventh year. My question is, where do you want to see this story go? Do you want more focus on the Marauders and company last year? Or would you prefer a shorter amount of chapters being focused on Hogwarts so we can get to life after school and focus more on the war? I'd love some suggestions because like I said, right now a lot of my ideas revolve around post graduation. Of course I don't want to short you all on Ruby/Sirius's first arc as a couple which largely consists of coming together during their last year. But I also don't want the chapters to drag.**

**Am I making any sense? Ahaha, lack of sleep is getting to me. Either way, please review and let me know what you think! Again apologies for taking so long!**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Sorry for the wait again. Been busier than usual! As always, I don't own anything but my OCs. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Miss Zeller, although I am hesitant to ask you what exactly in Merlin's name possessed you to do that to your hair, I will do so anyways. How did you end up with that particular shade?"

Ruby tried really hard to stifle her laughter, especially given how stern McGonagall's voice was but she couldn't help it. A little squawk of laughter passed through her lips but she immediately reigned herself in once she saw how far her Head of House's eyebrows shot up on her forehead.

"I wasn't aware that this was a laughing matter, Miss Zeller."

"I'm sorry Professor, I didn't mean to laugh. Nervous habit I suppose," It wasn't really a lie. Ruby had been nervous to see McGonagall's reaction to her new pink hair. After spending the first evening back at Hogwarts crying on the loo floor, Mary and the other girls decided it'd do Ruby some good to cheer up and took turns finding the proper tone.

"Should I be asking whether Mr. Black had something to do with this?" Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed at her, no doubt thinking about how inappropriate it was that her students could possibly be hexing each other.

"No, ma'am, not at all." Roo was hasty in her answer, which didn't make exactly Sirius look innocent. "I wanted to do it. My mum would murder me though if she saw."

"So you chose to do this under my watch then?" Bad answer Ruby.

"Not exactly ma'am. It's just that with everything that had happened, it lifts my spirit a bit." She answered with a shrug knowing that was a bit of a low blow, but it wasn't necessarily a lie. It had been a lot of fun sitting around in her pajamas with her best friends. It reminded her of how she and Naomi did the same thing before Naomi was too worried about scaring her own sister.

"Hmm, well I suppose then." McGonagall's tone was softer now. "You are in luck Miss. Zeller. After Mr. Black's little stunt in third year, and your decision to keep that…eccentric color, I looked it up in the handbook, and hair coloring is not prohibited by the dress code. But bare in mind, you are a representation of this house and extension myself. I do not want to be made a fool of, Ruby."

"Yes Professor." Roo ducked her head a little bit. "It wasn't my intention to make Gryffindor look stupid or anything," she heaved a big sigh. "It makes me feel normal though, everyone's been walking around on eggshells around me, and I just don't want people to treat me different."

"Understandable," Professor McGonagall adjusted her glasses before snatching a tin off her desk and extending it to Ruby. "Have a biscuit Zeller, and be on your way to breakfast."

Grateful to not have been given a detention or have McGonagall write home to her mother, Ruby tentatively reached out and snatched a biscuit from the tin and smiled at her teacher before stuffing it in her mouth. "Cheers ma'am," Roo tried her very best not to spit crumbs all over her as she dashed from her office.

McGonagall had caught sight of her leaving the portrait hole and hastily pulled her from her friends so Ruby figured no one waited around for her. Toast and eggs were much more important anyways. So she was surprised to see Sirius leaning nonchalantly against the wall outside of the office.

"How did ol' McGoggles like your hair?" Sirius smirked, pushing himself off the wall and falling in line with her. He had been shocked to see a pink head bobbing down the girl's stairs but he couldn't say he was really surprised. Although he thought red was more her color, pink wasn't so bad.

"Definitely not a fan, but it doesn't violate any rules, so." Roo grinned, blowing her bubblegum colored bangs from her eyes. "Just said that I better not make a fool of Gryffindor, and told me to have a biscuit."

"That seems awfully lenient for our Head of House," He mused, throwing an arm around her shoulders as they walked.

"Well, I told her that I was tired of people treating me all weird and that it made me feel better," Ruby said, trying to keep the emotion from her voice. While she had appreciated the way Sirius and all her friends were willing to go to bat for her, it was still embarrassing. She didn't like how she froze up like that. Wilkes didn't scare her, and she didn't like that he was getting the best of her. Ruby felt like a little kid whose siblings had to come to the rescue.

Sirius stiffened beside her, and suddenly stopped walking, pulling Ruby to a stop as well. "Look Roo," He started.

"Don't Sirius, it's fine. I'm okay. I don't want to be coddled." Ruby's voice was hard as she regarded him, her slender arms crossing over her chest. "I can handle myself you know, and it's not as if Wilkes is even that intimidating."

"What happened to you is not fine," Sirius reached out and held her by her shoulders. "The fact that you think it is, is what makes me worry. No one thinks you can't handle yourself Roo. I knew that when I ran after you that night and I know it now. But I'm not gonna let Wilkes stomp around this school like some prima donna because his dad is a wanker, and try to work you over. Not because you couldn't string him up and beat him unconscious but because you're my best friend and I don't want you to go through that alone."

"Does this mean I've taken James' spot in your heart?" Ruby said with a small grin as she wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Yeah, just don't tell him. He'll go off the deep end and the last thing anyone needs to witness is Prongs' having a mental break down," Sirius hugged her back, his cheek resting against the top of her head. He always made fun of Roo for being so short, but he never realized how short until she was next to him.

"I don't want to be treated differently Sirius, it's hard enough." She spoke quietly, still wrapped around his waist. "I have nightmares all the time, and I have to stop myself from running out anytime I hear a noise outside my house."

"You're still Roo, ya know? No one thinks of you any differently but you aren't some super woman. You can protect everyone with some weird defense mechanism."

"Yeah, you're one to talk. Sirius Black, king of building walls." Ruby scoffed but with a smile in place as she playfully shoved him away, and starting walking towards the Great Hall again with an arm still wrapped around his waist. "I'm trying; it's hard to talk about."

He thought about his family, and his own inability to talk about them to anyone but James. "Yeah, I get it. Just stop shutting Amery out; he's a real git when you don't talk to him."

"Roger that," Roo answered with a grin, as they turned the corner and headed straight for the Gryffindor table.

* * *

The day passed in a blur, Ruby earning many compliments and strange looks about her new hair color. She had managed to completely avoid Wilkes except for one passing by in the corridors where her fear gripped at her heart for a moment before shaking herself out of it. She did see Mulciber and made sure to discreetly hit him with a tripping jinx that left him with a bloody nose.

All in all, it had been a good day.

At least it had been until she stumbled across Sirius shouting at Regulus in the middle of an empty corridor. All Ruby had been trying to do was take a short cut to the common room, she was trying to find Amery. She had felt bad about shutting him out all these weeks and wanted to actually sit down with him and try to explain where her head had been. Talking with Mary, and even Sirius a little bit that morning, had put things in perspective for her. Roo felt silly for thinking that she could ever dismiss her brother like that.

Roo had just been turning a corner when she heard Sirius's heated voice. Admittedly, she did detour from her course to the common room to see what was going on, she thought back to their conversation earlier and couldn't help but think he was confronting Wilkes or something.

Poking her head around the corner, Ruby saw that Sirius was confronting someone, just not Wilkes. Regulus Black stood facing his brother, arms over his chest with a haughty look on his face. While Regulus carried that regal Black look, Roo always thought Sirius was the more handsome of the two, but she was bias.

She quickly flattened herself back against a wall, unwilling to let Sirius see her. She knew how touchy he was about his family. Naturally Sirius would preach to open up to people all while shutting people down whenever they got too close to an issue he didn't like. He still hadn't told her what happened, Ruby only knew second hand what James had let slip. Even he was unwilling to let go of any information.

"I can't believe you're defending them Regulus. They **kill **people," Sirius's harsh voice cut through her thoughts. Ruby could easily picture the look of rage on his face.

"Not anyone who matters," Regulus voice was more drawn out and pinched sounding than his brothers, but Ruby suspected he always sounded like that. She never had any conversations with the boy to compare it to. "Is this because of that Mudblood girl you hang around with? The one who got Loren's father locked up in Azkaban?" Ah, there was the anger. He sounded more like Sirius now.

"Don't use that word in front of me," Sirius snarled, as Roo poked her head around the corner again to see him pointing his wand into Regulus's face. "Are you telling me you'd be okay if your mate's dad just decided to off a seventeen year old girl? Because that's almost what happened. You've been brainwashed Regulus. I can help you, it doesn't have to be like this." The edge fell from Sirius's voice as he pleaded with the younger man. "They're just using you Reg."

"I'm more than okay with it when it's someone like that," Regulus spat as he shoved Sirius away from him. "I don't want your help. I don't need it. I don't have a brother anymore."

Ruby ducked back down around the wall again, careful so Regulus wouldn't see her as he scurried away. Before she could even consider calling out for Sirius, she saw him turn heel and stomped away towards the opposite end. Roo sat there for a few moments, replaying the scene in her mind wondering if she should be chasing after Sirius. Naturally, she wanted too but Sirius was a live wire right now and would not appreciate her attempts at comforting.

She had too many run ins with Sirius's temper to go running after him. Knowing Sirius, he likely wanted to be alone to sulk and brood. Ruby didn't particularly like the thought of one of her best mates stomping around, especially after Sirius had gone out of his way to comfort her, it was best for her to leave this to someone else.

With no other ideas, she pushed herself off the floor and started back on her way to the common room. She'd find James and she could tell him to find Sirius. While Ruby loved Sirius very much and thought the world of him, she knew how self destructive he could be and didn't want him on his own for too long.

Luckily she encountered James just as he was crawling out of the portrait hole. After relaying the scene to him, James brushed Remus and Peter off, pulling a piece of parchment from his pocket and hurrying off.

"Is Amery around?" Ruby asked as she followed Remus and Peter back into the common room, the latter sitting himself down at his chess board.

"Yeah, he's up in the dorms. Working on our transfiguration essay," Peter replied with a grin as Remus considered his first move, with a gloomy look on his face. "Only McGonagall would give us an essay on the first day."

"Righto, thanks lads. Pete, you still up for teaching me some strategy later? James might take the piss out of you, but I think it'd be dead useful for Quidditch."

"Sure thing Roo," Peter gave her a grateful grin, not too many people were willing to listen to him prattle on about chess anymore, not when he went around on a regular basis destroying anyone who played him. Ruby took the stairs two at a time, and entered the boy's dorms without knocking. Since it was only Amery, she had no reason to, not really at least.

Amery laid in back, resting against his headboard only glancing up briefly when Ruby barreled through the door. "Hey Roo."

"Hey," Ruby said, softly closing the door behind her and hopping on the bed next to her brother. She leaned against him, reading off the parchment in his lap. Although she loved Hogwarts, Ruby still missed the times before when it was only her and Amery. "Did you even read the theory on human transfiguration?"

"I skimmed it," Amery admitted with a sly smile.

"You're hopeless."

"Only because I know my more skilled sister will look over this for me."

"Yeah well stop while you're ahead. Less to fix if you can't bullshit anymore." Ruby scoffed pulled the parchment from his hands and setting it on the nearby nightstand. She'd look over it tomorrow during their free period.

The twins sat in a comfortable silence for a while, both content to just be around each other. Ruby had spent so much of the summer avoiding the quiet, jumping at every noise she heard and Amery spent his time trying to quell his sister's fears even if she didn't want him too.

"I wasn't trying to shut you out, you know." Roo's voice was quiet, but it sounded so much louder in the silence of the room. Apologies and admitting she was wrong was not something that came easily to Ruby Zeller, and Amery knew it. "It was just something I had to wrap my own head around. I thought it would be better for everyone that way. I didn't want to worry you. Sirius told me about that night and how you reacted. I didn't want that to happen again."

Amery didn't say anything but slid his arm around his sister's shoulders. "I thought you were going to die Ruby. You were so pale, and you wouldn't stop screaming." His voice was thick with emotion when he finally spoke up. "But once you were better, you didn't have to keep running. You shouldn't have been concerned with anyone else's feelings but your own. You were the one healing, not me."

"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing." Ruby snorted, a smile on her face despite the serious subject manner. The twins were very different in a lot of ways but they were both frustratingly stubborn and determined to put one another above themselves. "And it wasn't just for you. Naomi was so skittish around me. I didn't want to be treated differently."

"Problem with that though Roo," Amery started, turning to face his sister. "Is people are gonna treat you differently no matter how you act. It wasn't like you tripped and hurt yourself. It was an intentional move on Wilkes part and you could have died. That's gonna change how you look at someone, whether they want it to or not." He shrugged.

Ruby sighed, but said nothing. She knew he was right, and he knew that she knew it. She could try to justify her actions, try to explain that her behavior had come from a well meaning place. That she wasn't trying to hurt anyone's feelings but it came across that way anyways. Roo glanced over at Amery who wore a smug little smile knowing that he had driven his point home.

"Oh piss off." She gave him a hard shove, pushing him off the bed. "You know that hurt me more than it hurt you," Roo grinned as she hastily pulled his duvet over herself.

"Right, Saint Ruby always looking out for others." Amery snorted, pushing himself off the floor and promptly plopping himself down on top of his sister who screamed in protest. "Always putting others before herself, how kind."

"Geroff!" Her voice was muffled considering her face was being smashed into the mattress. "God Amery, you've gotten fat." Ruby tried flailing her arms which proved a lot more work than she expected. Her brother had always been as scrawny as her but over the last few years he had filled out considerably. Gone were his baby cheeks, replaced by a strong chiseled jaw. His shoulders had broadened, and even though he still wasn't that much taller than his sister, he definitely had the upper hand.

"Not until you promise you're done with self sacrificing bullshit and let other people be there when you need it. No more Saint Roo and her righteous protecting everyone else stick."

"Ugh!" She let out a frustrated groan, trying in vain to kick her legs back. He was so lucky that her bat wasn't anywhere near in reach or she'd clobber him. Amery might have more weight on him, but he didn't have Ruby's aim or swing. Remembering how she had broken the jaw of Slytherin's beater last year was almost enough for Amery to release her.

Almost.

"Promise Ruby!" Amery gave her one sharp jab to her ribs which caused her to let out a loud squeal. At this point Remus and Peter had come running up the stairs, afraid that the twins had gotten into some kind of brawl. Although they rarely fought, it tended to get nasty when they did.

"Fine, I promise! Now get off!" Roo gave her brother an extra shove as he rolled off her laughing hysterically. "I ought to kill you, you know." She muttered darkly, emerged from underneath the covers, her pink hair sticking up in every which direction.

"Oh, hi Remus. Pete." She greeted her friends with a cordial smile as she straightened herself out. "Good seeing you chaps." Said Ruby as she clapped them on the shoulders as she passed to leave the boy's dorms. "Watch your back Zeller," she hissed back at Amery before bolting down the steps.

"You lot really have a funny way of sorting things out, don't you?"

* * *

**So there you have it. Amery and Roo finally hashed things out, the only way they really know how. Hope you guys enjoyed Regulus's little cameo. He's not a big part of the story yet, but he will definitely play huge role later so I'm loving slipping him in when I can :) Please review and let me know what you think. They really motivate me to get more chapters up, quicker!**


End file.
